A sketch of an overland route to British Columbia

PROVINCE’ or MANITOBA

MAN (TOBA

- Prouinclal Library

CLASSIFICATION

we,
. SN. as
t " - aN
“ 1 . . *
- od:
j t
ae ‘ .
goo.
4 »
a >

ae
uy
e
2
+
_

/
en ee ce ee aft ee ef ee oe
f
Ap “ey | : I |
- “ “ys . I
wy fey, Mow uy! “oanay ye Pelee K . ‘fS> .
a. aan wee . Sturpson A. ia ak White Fish |r

t
i

LL

/
an ane

,

i
i

i
a

L

&

t

4 pmo Ne pce ata

l& |

or cen reat arene
~aeevermeenaeren 8 MYL ETE, SE PR

“PL LL eB

. : ! s* ;
“Map of the Comtry: from ZAKE SUPERIOR to the PACIFIC OCEAN r | _ i _

Simic Ten le Bett mele on ie date ot the Woods to the Focky Mountains, and the best known Routes to the Gold Region. of British columbia. mo -

' re 28 yp I
amas ta Be i Pe Ly. Lili PEL Lobe itil
1 a a
J . ,
|. Asiiind & Saskatchewan Esplaring Rant _ . ’
/ ,
. a
: Buylralithtes

e

i t
—f ~~

os
Fabing 7 .

%

ey rh alligy,
1 wt
“rout 1 ly Why Sa
Z {art 10, %

recr

4 GC oo |
rls
aon
e\ |

By , r. ' ca
arti, ; ‘ 3 ig - Ss Wg
on anien _e | ae ww VE
~ SS , H i 3 i Eo
Se ! i 6 3 i
' | { Ss \
aN . | \
be | ; , Be .
Dy Le lake 2 4 BH] | ;
; ; : hee G/U ; .
ae ' i ! | Mey, 7M at sanity S io { Filerander 4 . , +
ee “ { i i : :
fa Rd ez rT 7 j 7 : + it hr as ener rane 7 SOE NSNSOE Gn Sie Se es ne -
Columiia Ry a ig | i \j | ts i UT Taal | 7 qe! q bed fo | 7 i lade%, i i ry : , gal i

an
a

we |

vas Formation, fe To

2, pe He

“

by

mW

[AF la Ronge
| Es

1

_ Assinnebotneg ;
Paptiste Be | F

) Green L& Et

I
\
i & Frican L, |

A

K
eae Cay
BOE estes dated
aw 2eMig D:

Arey

~ v «
alt i SS
Ta
ey aay

ray a B

Mowery, af" "

ty

i I
, ip ny f enor
we,

| alae "aty

7 hy ee
gy tl

hs %

. by 7s BS ones

al

cs

a

Ses

sy

ane

ils
Sania or Devt
son

x

[Pe

vi Qn.

2 ofy

Ameweenet T i ae
i
11 = aR mI eniedaamannemerenaaR
in)

}
! |

eal

ly, ‘

ft lial PL de | ML ALLL _L re

. Riou < ot ewig

shal tts ays) “J

|

t

|

=
| Whete Poste [2

S|

stsginnebotneg i
4
ge
eit
Bo 7
| Siren ius “ ie
ety ran ae
haze aps 3
“ LSE nhy7

ry

_ Map of the Cointry from LAKE SUPERIOR to the PACIFIC OCEAN’

\

ah Mp mg
rath Sabai

Piers ce Cretner

en

chy aethy L |
L
aa tN ppimet |
Buttalto = te ae
ee
5
|
! L
Soo | fe uF
Beer L
: Beaverf. ¥
l
es a Pot » Green anal

f Fain an.

%

“ty

Cy,
a "bn

. ay!

Pies

Me

2s, i
es eh ites. |

or

gis

yale Toot

Pelican L.

Pa.

Churehal

tt

%
i,

ey:

cht

an
F! ta Range 5 ¥ \ i) ?

«usage

Fb ri RS

‘

Hayh.
1

} ee ce pn

atts Mar Dakss 7
y ay, lishing "© Oy Rk ig
ev ; i dfn “2 3
we egpte o 3% | 4
“e SS My, A
i) a 4 GOVE | wiste \
UYENS
Vee tog e
—_ \ . Great Birtain

f ‘Du ck
1

MY Lwerin

%y

|

Rat
‘ “ a

}
iy

te

s\

{

“shoving the Ker tile Belt stretching urtrom the Like of the Wouts fo the Hocky Mouitains, (nd the best known Routes.to the Gola Region of British Columbia ,
hii Lt pho Pe Pe

Lt wy
oe

L
{
> L
z |
a
E a
B i
Zz ‘
“Ge. r
? , €.
= 26
Ee -}e

ear oe

eae Sa v Pci Cor ad anal

saw RRS

The Fertite Belt is, colored
‘ ‘The Glaviers ..... bans
The Boutes ..

Tit,
mes

~

“sth ity
yy
oy
‘a tom
KD

on
haw
Po thd)

"Resjoosch

Tenasph
~ 28 Mile hee: ¢

ns

| WU Chowett & Ca, Lith: Torchte es

. : +

lara FURR R Ieee

i

sil

un

fim
Pa tS z

ited

AF

ints,

Sh

ae ~
ae Se

Pape ag ;

Us aye

ap

*

860.»

d
a

oh Avy
Gg .—

SS

5

hat aan’

;

a

%

gt

iy

hous

<<
1, MO
ae

NO

| eS
’ Sad

* gt op

ths spat

t

ry

at

pili

ipo, PS
2 ‘

a

Sapte
opt

7

. Ga $7")
. him FA oy .
- My? ent

kat
British Cotun

Front Lake’ of the Woods toForks af the Sas&athewan
Bon Brks ab the Sa chewan: tothe Rocky Mountiins.§
aes. : nnnrTnee

caterer em Le sneer
|

hss. Capt" Lalticas Expedition - °
Ln Ble Be

BRITISH COLUMBIA...) *.
Sf Ledetet Haynes. Track 289.
ak 3 | Ce |

3
My

OOK Auge 1860 jones
, es = a

gt

«

x

ate ft

.
fii

7

x

Th
~/ ally :

ise

-

S wot . woe
m - . = ton;
Nn Mat ray Tih 3 0%, « :

Daya gt
Ses hye

appar

yt

si

dh
aN

]

1

a BAN

eo

O Sit

hy
Sain)

vate Tat - ih ‘Fa
. hep -
a “ya tt ayy Ly.

eo :
“Lord Pinteaw
we

saierencammrramrees

eS

hin SS

aos

Flue Bo

-- ’ oa
, :
‘ ‘ . cecs .
rr ae oy . :
a a “ a
‘o- ‘ ” “ete .¢
~ woe Ts
tient arin ne” Pr woe
ote . a . an
% . ’ yy
ny ae
ae ‘ te . ~
- .e ‘ toa
7 . , - 1
. : ye 2 ‘ ’
- s4 oT yo :
— oe a 7
. - . ao en q
Lotte 7. od
a oe ‘- . a a ut
an ane arene ‘

wee ete tt

ste

- os ore
Lab ahem, fe Cettynane ties nat deat y Ate th hal ner ahr Se NUTS ayer My

ee -
uid. _

- A SKBTOH ee

OF AN * .: yf

.

OVERLAND ROUTE
B BRITISH COLUMBIA |
j Fi NRY — HIND, M.A., P.R.G.S.,

PROFESGOR OF CHEMISTRY AND GEOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF- TRINITY
ss ~QOLLEGE, PORONTO; ;

> . a a ced

_ ‘ a

Te ARERR OF —-
NARRATIVE OF THE CANADIANSEXPLORING EXPEDITION |

OF 1857, aND OF THE ASSINIBOINE ‘xp SASKATCHEWAN ;
; EXPLORING BXPEDITION ore 1868.

a

Oe “-ORONTO :|
ee WC. cHEWETT & 0., PRINTERS,
ceem +) nN G. STREET BAST. “
‘ ae . te ' _
we 1863, _

sh
| \
on x

Y : .
ae . .
yo . ERRATUM. og,
i" The line at the ttom ‘of the 46th page go shold b be.the sixth ou
yi ee line on page 47. . a
+ . . ; . .
‘ S : wee we teen qpenaes rae

7 “Tt is not unreasonable to look forward to the establishment of a regular :
or pyatem ‘of transit; commencing” from Nova’ Scotia “and tha” shores’ of New
: _ Branswick, pasging through Canada, touching upon the Red River Settlement’: ;
crossing the Prairies to the Vzrsaition Pass, where-we know that the incli-
natidn is ao moderate that natore has placed no ‘insurmountable obstaclés-to :
the construction of a railway, fill it reaches the gold- bearing Colony ‘of Brit.
"ish Columbia, creating frésh centres of civilization, and. ‘consolidating British
interest, and feelings,” - Earn or Carnarvon at the Presentation of the Royal
| awdids to Captain R., FF, Burton and Captain John Pallisen—Royal Geographi- ‘
™, a ‘al Soriety, May, 23,1859, | 7

we
\. tae 1
an ' ’ 32
NOT roe

JAS MERE, sketch like: the presoit Jequires no prefatory remarks, —
It is sufficient-to say, that my dwa’ ‘personal knowledge of the country
- extends to. the Elbow of the, South: ‘Branch of -the Saskatchewan ; j
for the description- of the country west of that point I am indebted
~~ $6 British Parliamentary papers, and to several papers by Dr. James
marys Hector, published in the prodeedings of. different learned Societies "
Lf in Bogland and Scotland.” The’ large map was originally prepared
i “by Arrowsmith/for my Report of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan .
pie ‘Expedition, pablished by command, London, Aug., 1860. “The *
hy we smaller. faaps are from British Parliamentary papers. One ‘word ©
ah a ‘fo the ‘reader‘ebout | the: ‘North-west Territory. Glance at the map
“ - _ and’ you will seé a broad; “yellow-coloured Fertile Belt, stretching ..
' from the Lake of the Woods to the auriferous . flaaks of’ the Rocky
Mountains, ‘ That’ beautiful oasis i is bounded on the, north: by a.
-- sub-aretia,- forest covered region, on the. south by an.arid and:
’- uninhabitable- desert, stretching to the Red Riyer of the'south and:
‘the high plains of, Texas. “That belt cgntaids yoRTY MILLION, acres ©
; “ of the richest soil. - On ‘the western limits of thé Fertile Belt li lies -~
“the great gold country. .Cross/the low height of land, not 5 000.
feet above; the ‘sea, through the Vermillion Pass,’ and you tread
“upon the auriferous terraces ét British Columbia. , Cariboo and Koo- :
. ‘tanie are both just on the other’ side of the riountaing, or between four y ‘
-and | ‘five hundred, miles from ‘thé, Pacific coast. ‘The whole valley®
of: the-"Upper ‘Colambia' ~ curiff TOUS 3 ‘the: entire western. flank of--~ -:

ye _ we Z . oo 7

vie - INTRODUOTION. SO

7 the mountains is a, region ‘rich in gold.: «Ib is'as it were a step from

i the Fertile Belt, drained by the North Saskatchewan, to one of the.
richest gold “fields i in the world, in’ the midst of grand mountains,
towering precipices, and foaming rivers, but with little pasture land, -

, + ‘or land fit for tillage. Is there not in this a providential disposition ?

eS : Does not, that Fertile Belt point out the tructpath across the conti-

“nent? The way by which, first” British Golmbia, then . China, .

\ then Indie, may be reached from Europe. The way by which 8

British civilization, laws and liberty are to be carried to the Pacifio,
+ nud thence to Asia, through Barrisn Amertoa.

1 ° Y a . : i , oe t 1 a
: . boat ‘yo af

Let otepity ' er . 4
~ ‘ ~ - hy

a -t ‘ ~ 9%

‘ ' ‘ ie

. . ™

ee CONTENTS, 5 so OR

‘ns ‘ so . PAG
Tan PRAIRIE ROUTE ct ececeecsecetsctastesesesscscioleacesce 1

“Distances from St. Paul'to St. Cloud... ....cceeeceeeececeee 16, LOE
‘ope “to Pembina, basses csc cece emseees 16 woe
: “« ' .@ Fort Garry’ to Port Ellice..../..s0..eceeee0e 19 Sag
See “* Fort Ellice to the Elbow. of the ‘South.Branch es

--of the Saskatchewan ....... :

, ie Kasse PAS secesatueeaefetabenen

= ~-Hseeee PHT soe tecetecetectdeucheouarendcsctevecegesenseeteces 20%
oes 2 eRe ar enna Be
_ THR ATHABASKA PAGS, oo escesececceecnee ce tene es teat cee su se cutee 84
.Kyown Passes ‘of 108 Ropxr MOUNTAINS vo fesu cs leccdscceteseeden” 35
“Taz Nonrmmny Rours vid EDMONTON oo. ss tele ceeetegecer sees tenses 36 - :
..) "Dae Inpran RIDES OF TINE VALUEY.OF' THE SASKATCHEWAN .-......02- 38

_ Tse CunrE cor rome oon. Morris ««... see teenee - 40

we “'Paoteer OF. A Rovrz ACROBS ThE Conmivent Lee EH e be Cb ee eg enseenens 49
at

Tae Fenrng Beur IN tae Vatcer- oF me SASKATCHEWAN. ....0.60005.° 88"
‘~ Mr, “BounorAn’s MEMORANDUM 1.3.4 sseesewteses tore sienighees ese. 69.

THE SASKATCHEWAN ROUTE 2.0... c.cc0iseeeeliveeteckeeeee, 68
A ‘Smitcn, oF tHE GxroLoay, or rae Rocky MOUNTAINS Jo... 020 eee 68 Jv
Terraces in the Motntaing. 5.00. 60c ic ecececeeeeelecseees 69.

"BRITISH COLUMBIA .....s.csssessesueesssenunevesesonnseeoes 12 -

AM peg

. YCaribO0 eves eel e cence ee cg ececenateeceereeecanarenye a en
I shy {The Climate «+ 2+ss0esesesersgersteepetserecseesse sds 4%
a " Mining Licenses? ..2 sss ésurse °
* Victoria to Cariboo: . ,

7 «yt, hi . CONTENTS, _ PAGE... |
° Dmecr Rovrs titover Brrrisiz Coruststa, ro 1m PAcrrid, .'.....5 seoee 18
: Cononuston—The Hon. W. H. Seward, Secretary of State, U.S., ox vas
. NN Furure OF CANADA. cocecsevecencccedecscectcnssccesccenee AY
7 Puacrioat Onskr vations oN THE Construction or A Conrmuovs Live or:
‘ +

Ramieay FRoM CANADA TQ THE ‘PACIFIO Ooran,:on Briviso Temnr, 2 |:

ony, bY SaRDronD Fueniing;'C.E,.. sss yheaceeeseepenevens 80

Ute Character ...ceceelecce teenie eeeliltheeseseeesanaees 82
th Hes Magnitude.» s-c-sseeasseetazgereedpficcbessengs tosses 87. |

- ts Importance. .... 4% 904.4 wa :

veveeeceeeeses 89

So Scheme of Construction . these aeeee 7 gp a
oo. The Road System of Caviada. . ee ene | Se
rn : - A Road System for Now, Terrritoriea...++. esses esererseees 101.
. aya
wow eee eet ABEND TE

. Tar Lonpon ‘Toes! Corresronpent’s EErten. cc csseencssedeusees 118 |
' Freicat From Sz. Paut to.Fort Cr 127
Lier or Neocrssary on UseruL ARTIOLES~I -A- Jounney ACROSS |THE

Peat ro Brrrisu Conus... .. sae eeeeeeeees ~ 1.
ch Pos _ ADVERTISEMENTS.” eee

1, Nanrative or ram Canapian Expronme Exreprrions........00040665 129 5

«° 129.

2, Exerorations mx tue Inrerton or Tre Latranonk PEnINsota ....

Sa route to ) choose- from, iavolving “very “different means of com-.

Coe HY
“OVERLAND ROUTE. |}

|
ne
TO H .

BRITISH COLUMBIA.

ron
t

pommararean

TTAw Gnigrant OF tontist, starting from any part of the valley”
of the St. Lawrenee, and desirous of crossing’ the continent
by’ the most direct road to ‘British Columbia, has two lines of

‘munication. He may make the greater part’ “of the long
" journey in canoe or freighter’ 8 Boat, or he may adopt 1 the. less”
- monotonous and perhaps more.agreeable mode of travelling; by
- traversing the prairies and mountains on horseback br on foot.
In. cage he choose, the water, communicatio; ; his point of °
“departure will be Fort William, on Lake superior and the .
"voyage will be made altogether, throagh British territory: Af
, he should prefer the prairies, he will start from St.. Paul 6 —
"Ste Cloud; in: Minnesota, or from: Fort Garry, ‘at Selkirk or? .
“Red River Settlement, which’ he may reach’ by the’ canoe route
> from Fort William; or the ‘land route from. St.. Cloud. “These
sagas of communication differ so widely from o one another, that.

i ae ea ek a be

z

ae oo

10

J

I shall describe the details of each: under the separate headings.

of «“ ‘Tae PRAIRIE Rovrz,” and. “ “ Canoz Ro} ITB.
4 re must you

4

oe , cf aac | Fi
“ot . n ne PRAIRIE aljerds! 24,
. I wit assume that a ‘party of twenty have “made. ‘arrange-

” “ments to ‘travel in company, and share all the difficulties ‘and
_ dangers of the Prairie Route. --

fs

A,

* pv

fu
f.
act

ef

" ‘The best taode of proceeding would be, to meet a Si. Pail. oe

town to Pembina and Fort Garry. The reason why it is not
advisable to make an earlier start, will be at once apparent

..or'St. Cloud,-in ‘the Stte-of- Minnesota; during-the' last; week +
in April, in time for the first trip: -of the steamer from George

‘- when it is known that the Red River of the North oes: not i

- become clear of ice before the middle of: April, and: in some

years it‘ is much: later.. In 1859, Capt. Blakiaton’ crossed,
. * Red River.onj the ice, with horses, near. the.

th parallel, on

with horges and carts, it would not be advisa
the second week in May, as there would’ be no young. grass

‘on the prairies for. the cattle; and the rivers would: all be’
fall, and much of the country flooded, in. congequence: of the:

melting snows... -When the Red d River. half-breeds make their

annual journey, from Fort Garry ‘to Crow-wing and St. Paul, eee

the 1st day o \May. we
ee es intend to proceed from 86, Paulor-§ St. Cloud: a

they usually, start from the settlements between.. the 1st ‘and «

10th of June, which is the earliest pe period _whén-they’ -eanply
on fresh pasturege f for’ their horses and oxen,

are

Aes,

*

4, oa ‘ my : wd . 7
bon , . 11 > wpe »
: “S "

If the’ party should determine to > tiike the chance of pro-.
guring horses at Pembina, St. Joseph, or the Red River ’

Settlement, it would be desirable to’make enquiriés as to the -'

time when the steamers will--be likely to. leave Georgetown, - .

- on their first trip down. the river. ‘The journey:can be made-

from Canada by’ ‘rail to Milwaukee; thence to Prairie du Chien
or any other point on the. Mississippi; ; thence by steamer to

“St. Paul. Froth that place to Georgetown, on Red River,

about 290 miles, Burbank’s stages form, regular line of com-

“munication ; and. from Georgetown steamers will convey the

_ party “to Pembina. or Fort Garry. If" the: ‘connections are

properly made, the distance between T' ronto and Fort Garry

’ can be accomplished in twelve or. thirteeh days. It is doubt-

_ curing fifteen or: twenty horses each in the

ful, however, whether several peroe mel succeed in pro-

settlements without
considerable loss of time,-and paying an exorbitant price for
them! The Hudson Bay Company were'so short of-horses in
1858, that/they allowed ‘Capt. Palliser £20 stetling ‘each for
twenty-five horses. I was:compelled'to pay the Company, at:
Fort Garry, £50 sterling ‘for two good horses, in- June of the

* game year; and only procured them: through the intervention
. of Sir-George Simpson. Pembina and St. Vincent are very

small and-scattered villages, without any résources whatever:
St. Joseph, thirty miles. west of Pembina, contains: about: five

_. ‘hundred souls; and ‘horses’ may be’ obtained there. ‘Bat, if:
. several: parties of twenty each, propose to follow. the: Prairie”

“Route on horseback, there will be great difficulty in procur™
ing” horses’ at’ or near Fort Gerry, or at St. Joseph.” Both
— ‘horses and imules | can. n. be, obtained: at. ‘Bt Paul, or in the towns :

7

o

. a _ ‘ ; ; . . oy -} co 7 m
-- 42 a a - a
* cf

i “ abe

. between st. Paul gnd Crow-wing. “It will be a. matter for:
. careful consideration: -whether: it would. not’ “be advisable. to

make sure of-this important. part of the outfit’ “before. Teay- _

-. ing the settlements on the Upper Mississippi:, CR

'.. I will assume, in the first instance, that the members of eo

oo

¢

:
>

‘safety, and: with very: little: iron work. about it; is*a- ‘comfort=:
- -. able, convenient, * and- valuable’ adjunct to. Be. journey. across -

-’ + the Prairies ;° “and if constructed in- the. Tnanner. ‘described, .
and drawn by. a. yoke’ of. well-trained . oxen, | ora pair. of, good -

party, consisting of twenty. persons, determine to procure. 2. their fof
outfit at St. Paul, or:between it and_St..Cloud, and make that
town the starting point of their journey. ...They will require.
at least five carts, “constructed: after the fashion of. those in
‘common use in Lovver, Canada or at Red River, with ‘broad "
strong ‘wheels, and-with as ‘little. iron. work about them as”

- possible. The Red River carts have: no iron work; not éven .

_& screw, nail, or, tire; and. they are quite strong enough, ©...
when well made,to go to- the Rocky Mountains’.and:‘back- - “

. again, with one or. two changes of the axle, which is the only”

part liable to wear'.away under: ordinary” Teireimistances..

. Waggons; constructed after the model-common in’ “the: ‘Stites
and Canada, are .to’ be avoided, ‘without - ‘they: are: provided ;
swith weery Rood and strong. team. "There. is always: diff-
“culty in getting a. Waggon ‘through the: swamps .and bogs. : oI" _
* had an American waggon with me-in 1858, intending to'teke’’
it‘as far,as, the E Elbow of the South Branch‘ of. the. Saskatche- , - a
yan, but T was ‘glad to leave it at. Fort’ ‘Ellice: until” my ‘Te ‘
“tirn, “There .is no doubt, however, that a. covered: Waggon’. :
with high and broad wheels, made as'light as is, consistent: ‘with -

‘horses ¢ or maules, it, is ‘to be recommended:

Ba |
. - ; ‘Mules’ ‘are very ‘valuable, if. ‘good animals can be ‘obtained 5.
. 2 they are: ‘extremely hardy, very sure-footed, ‘keep fat on indif-

ferent pasture, and generally have. great endurance. Oxen' |

. are.slow and sure, but must-always ‘be watched ortethered at |
" night, for the first thrée or four weeks, or else they will wander,

and-endeavor to.retrace their steps homeward. ‘Instances have °

frequently been’ known i in the praries of. oxen starting off in a

direct line for their homé3,. and ‘making 2 265-and 80 miles before |”.

" they. were Gaught=- I lost an ox for some: ‘hours on the. ‘Assini

. boine, when, 200 miles from Red River ;-he ‘-swandered . home: a

"ward in the night-time, and was overtaken: about 10 miles from”
te camp,’ ‘leisurely retracin g his. steps: to the settlements. .
xen have the advantage over ‘horses ‘in being able to draw; Bh
henter loads: ‘ Phe usual load for'a long j journey is from 400 to:

600 Ibs.- for horses, and from 700 to:900 Ibs. for oxen. “The | Z

- ‘usual distance travelled during tle day is from 20 to 25-milés:
- When-the-: roads, are good, .the weather favorable,. and: the ,
* loads: not too heavy,.oxen will’ accomplish twenty-five milés - 2.
“day: -for ‘a: month. together. (Sundays excepted), without diffi.

_oulty,: arid. not - lose- condition. . There. are few Red. oe . a

os ‘horses that will, do: this without losing flesh. - Pee
. “The /provisions ‘absolutely necessary._{or the je journey: to a”

least three quarters ofa ‘pound of flour. or. oatmeal,and half a.

.

ay

“pany wnaccustomed:to tie} prariés or-te-hunting, are at pooh

te pound of. bacon: per.diem, and. tea at the: rate of one ‘poundiper’ “8

uring: Prarie hens and a duck. on the trail after leaving | the settle.

. “month: ‘This is. the minimum that | ‘shoul’ be- taken. At-is .
_) 4 assumed that. mostof the party: will’ be provil led awith | a. single a
Or: double-barreled gun, and there will ‘be ‘no. difficulty i in ‘pro- *:.

"ments, ag far as 5 Pembitia, After Iéaving! Pembina, “prairie hens?
will be scarce, but along the whole line of route enough ducks ,

and geese may! be procured to-supply a considerable - proportion | _
of the provisions required. ‘. When near: the south branch of the |

‘Saskatchewan, buffalo will probably be met with, and a supply
of dried meat may be laid. “ap in.store. The journey, including

. Btoppages, will probabl yrequire from ten Weeks to.three months; “ -
consequently, the minimum amount of provisions it would-be -.

rate

oo safe to rely upon, - would be. 60 Tbs. of/ / Pour, and 40 Xba. of —
‘ bacon or pork, or. dried beef, ‘for ' ‘each’ man. df pemican’ or.

dried buffalo meat can be- procured. at the. settlements or: at:

_ St. Joseph, ret doable better provision -ean-be . .
; “| had; but.it’ would not be wisé\to rely upon: obtaining. ‘a supply _

lived during the -wholé summer. of 1858 .on. dried buffalo meat,

laying on the groiind at_night, and: making ® temporary tent

" ‘under the carts, or with three’ poles. - : Each cart should be. pro.
"vided with two oil-cloths; they: are always useful, and sometimes -

_ most valuable, : asin crossing rivers, during thunder-storms and .
prolonged rains, &. . Hach ‘member. ‘ofthe: party should be”

. provided with ‘atleast .one-complete change: ‘of good stréng ”

., clothing, with an additional supply of flannel. shirts, worsted .

- stockings and Aatinel, drawers. : “An: Andia-rabber Or emttas

: and such other.casual Supplies of venison and mountain ‘trout
+ a8 -he was able to -procure. . He had: neither "bread,-salt nor 7

. -sugar; and did ‘Rot feel the want of these apparent necessaries: *
“2. ‘of life. “‘Teats-a are not necessary, but oil-cloths areindiapensa-
"ple, not only for : protecting the supplies during rain, ‘but also for —

_ of pemican or dried meat in the spring of the.year. “‘Captain’
- Blakiston, -one.of the thembers of the Palliser ‘Expedition, - -_

se

wed

B

“percha cloth j is very valuable. in crossing rivers. ° ‘The mode

of effecting this operation “willl ‘be described further . on. At =.
- the close of these ‘pages, a list. of. indispensable and ‘merely mo

useful, articles. are given, 80 that any further enumeration 3 is ;

‘at present unnecessary. . _

’. If the party are fully equipped at St. Paul, the route “may-
oo og fs Le by, the mail ‘and stage road ‘to Georgetown, ‘thence by the -
7 | prairie rdfd o on the east bank of Red ‘River;to'Pembina. . It is
aan: ot advisable to-travel ‘on thé west bank; in’ ~eonsequendéiot a a
f ‘wandering parties of Sioux Indians, who -are- always ‘ready, toe.
x \ seize-any, opportunity: of stealing horses, and sometimes ven-

- ture to “lift. scalp.” The’ distance ‘between Bt. Paul-and

» Georgetown is as follows: Be

“A

an ° o FROM ST. PAUL TO ST. CLOUD, Ka ‘MOLES, . ee
. Si. Joseph - ween ceeeeees sea eeee : ceececguasases i ae woes s
Cold Spring. .... See vee e eee eednencet *A0 We
; Richmond - «25.064 +++ wee ceewres : 4y
' Oak’ Grove . scaeee aeee hy
Sauk. Centre .

- (Qsakis .....! Dviverscveveneess abees
‘Alexandria’ snl eee ene weeeeee on
. en .

Ce mene menswear as ensede rece

— Breckenridge..:./.0..+6 00. eee.
Graham's Point > hk as: oe
’ Burlington . y land 4° s.,.:
- «+ §hayenne: - eeeee ores ws
~ Georgetown. . ee , .

_ “But if it is 3 desirable to ‘take. thé most dikect’ ‘route tb Pamae :
7 _ bina; the: rood will ‘Pass through | Crow-wing, and Otter Tai.

ir?
orl

ee Sts “Anthony” (opposite the “Falis).

o

. . CROW WING

"Outlet: of Leaf Lake
Leaf City (three or-four houses). .,

“a 1 gf

we

‘River. This is the route I followed i in “i957, when returning

from Fort Garry to Crow-wing. © The road is good and safe,

-and there is a ferry at Red Lake River. The following are

the distances : 2 ;
To. gt PAUL 70 ‘PEMBINA,:
United States Hilitary Road “Surveys, 1857. -

~ , FROM 87. ‘PAUL TO: o

: Sane. a Dera. a
9S 9

Manomin. ae

i Tard

ee a rr rd

rr ar

i
TPM eee eee mene toner n es er enancncansee
eo i

eo rr

Balle Prairie. wate ec eaees teeeee . :
‘Olmstead’s 20.00. cece cece ese at neces .
Mouth of Nokay river (opposite, Fort Ripley) =

er arr ar

Ce ee ee es

Cone oe Bl of Leaf oaniain

ee es

Otter Tail City (to left of road)... 2... ccc. cc oo
First Pt oe of Otter Sail River, Giash Laks)

as = Grossing! ‘of Sand Hill River, 80 ft wide;.14.ft deep- me

- the’ Red-River ‘Expedition of 1857, page: 884, 391.

os One by’ \Fort Garry, ‘and thence to Fort Ellice by, the trail oy

” Bnd of gurces syed line, Odometer mecaurements. ae 2 Oe
“ » Third crossing’ of Otter Tail River. .... tetecaens AE! sy
Detroit Lake—North shoro....:.... s :
Lake-Floyd (Eagle's Nest Lake).......

* North end of small Lake to. left of road *
- “Timbered Lake to left. pitas
Buffalo River, 10 feet wide, 1 foot deop 7
:. Dividirig ridge, lake and- timber. . he ag
Junction of St. Cloud and Pembingitiail :. Pies qe sade
f Crossing of Wild Rice River, 85 ft. wide, 2 ft deep. Bs J

Crossing of Wild Rice Creek, 15 ft. wide, "I ft; ‘deep &

me, .. Crossing'of Sand Hill reck, 12 feet Wide +. ...6
- - Bad Marshes......./:- poses eens Beceee

- Stony. Butte and Lake ot wtb eee eee ryeee ey whe da wees
_ Small Creek, water in holes” sas bedleseeceeseees m
; Crosse of Red Lake River, 115 feet i wide, 84 feet

a Small Take and Marsh bedees ; weeee hacnee scene .
“ Small Lake «1.2.0.2... wee te eee aee Treaees
~* Goulée . 2... eee eens Deeks eee eaeaees "
‘Crossing of Snake River ; er Te
_ Crossing of Middle River, ‘ ‘20'ft. wide,.6 in. deep
- “Crossing of Pine River, 15 ft. wide, 1 ft. K, deep
’..’ ‘Bend of Pine River, saeee vee . see
et ome Creck?, . ,

. Me
Ub...
8

.

Pembina 32: a Pe edeeetertseceeaesee A

of brief description of the ‘youte is gixent in in. ‘any. Report on -. ; ;
-Onte’ at Pembind, two -routes lie“open 4 to .the travellers.

. “north of ‘the ‘Assiniboine, the, otber_by Std josephis sand the -

om From this point to Pembing the ‘distances are.‘those gives 5 Gatonat a
. Noble, 1889, me ot oS

Wo
Little Souris Crossing ; thence by the west bank of the Assin-"
iboine to Fort Ellice. The first -is the ‘safest, but longer
‘than the route by St. Joseph. The difference in length is”
however more than compensated by the safety of ‘the Toute, ©
asthe Little Souris ‘is often fréquented by:Sioux, who it will-:

a be remembered are the ‘enemies of the: half-breeds ond of. 4
| k=" white men generally. At the Settlements ‘on Red River, itis: ;
' “also extremely probable that two or-three-half-breeds-would »-*° .‘

> -rbe glad to-accompany the party, atid the knowledge they pos- -
> ess of prairie ‘travelling, their.familiarity with the -habita-of
v:+' ” Tndions!and. with the language of the Crees, through whose "
"country: the greater patt of the trail runs, would ‘be of very.
“great advantage to any. ‘party, -.. With. ten. or, twelve half-
_ breeds associated with the party there would be no danger in’ ”
_ attempting to. go straight across the prairies between the north ~
“and south branches of the Saskatchewan, through the country. y:
ofthe Blackfeet and “Piegana, ‘but- without these admirable ae
guides it would’ scarcely be advisable ‘to attempt that-route; .
“and: consequently. the longer and: more northerly trail, by —
. Carlton, Edmonton, and, Rocky: Mountain House, would ‘have .
to, be adopted. a an het : ry ; _ _ ‘ a 7 a . ;
Either at St. Joseph’ or at the Settlements at.Red River, . ., :
“.’ @few-horses may be picked up, but the. price willno doubt’be =. *
_high, from: $70 to $100; as the demand is very great at this hee
_. time, and the half-breeds have, not. anticipated’ the require--
~/ :Ments of the present: season’ bysprocurinig: hoses fromthe . °°”
Indians or from the settlers atthe ‘Mission ‘of St. Ann, onthe: 2?
Saskatchewah, who-are wWell_ provided ‘with these useful aiti- 2.

hials. It is nét improbable, however; that a small emigration

: 19.

may take place from-Red River to the Cariboo and Kootinte -
. gold fields this season, and if this be the case, the half-bréeeds
‘will be glad, no doubt, to dispose of i some of thei stock. Hence

. it may occur that ‘horses and oxen are cheaper than usual, but ©
it would not be-wise to rely on this contingency, -Taore espe- -
‘Gially’ as many parties of twenty or more each, are now organy *
izing in Canada and: the States fora journey across the

_ Prairies to the » gold. fields. ‘of British’ ‘Columbia.

FORT: GARRY TO. FORT ELLICE, via THE WHITE xuD
. RIVER TRAIL. , :

re oh. yumms. * =
-Fort Ganny. —Camp on the prairie. @ood pasturage e. O° Ue a
_ Lawz’s ‘Posr.—Good trail through a fertile ‘country, partially: set.” SO ee
“ :tled. ‘Fine prairies adapted for grazing and agriculture.’ :Clumps' :

of poplar. Heavy timber in the bays of the river... .:....5.5 ys
Camp" at a stagnant pool in the shelter of a bluff of poplar. , Good ‘ res
‘ prass. “Heavy ‘timber skirting the river... 0.6. eee eee ee ees 4.7

Pam PortacE.—200 inhabitants: Cross a level prairie .with

: _ gich ‘soil. ‘and herbage, but" nearly; destitute ° “of trees; Good’.
7 - S PTAZING oe cece ee eee eee te eee wee eee ete nee tee * cewne OF ee
»- . Pear Porrace 10 Bat. fives ine open treeless prairie. « No it : ’

wood. ' ‘Splendid pasturage. : weeee
’ Rat River 70 Forp oF Warre Moo "Riva Very fine agricaltaral --
_ country, diversified with beautiful woodlands and extensive,open :
> * meadows.. Grass and many varieties of" plants wonderfully luxue ir 25
| yiant.. Crossing at Rat Creek’bad;, deep mud.-....,...4.4.- ee 14
_ORgssnN or Waite Mup "Rrver.—(55- feet wide, 4 feet “ied on
», August.) . Fine .grass and timber; trail follows’ ‘bank of White
“Mud Riyer, then through a rich praitie country, with t ‘man invert an
“> meadows, and woods of aspen..-....-0.5- ci taeccteecee wiht 260
Norra. Bani ¢ or Wurre Mop, ‘Rrver.——Fine tiniber! Come onthe °°" "
-. flanks ‘of the Riding Mouritain, . ond traverse. 3 ‘righ. undulating ;
; country; excellent pasture; Kc tY6ES.. oes ee cede ome pg: a
“‘Bine country’ to Abe Little jask catchewan, at’ the. oot of. the Riding .
, ‘ Mountains ing. (Rive 8 feet deap,-current 84 miles ‘
- an hour, (Aug. 28th). PR fear crossing the Little Saskatchewan’
the conittry.is thickly: covered with willows and aspen ; “excellent
eee A ny: Sentry beaulifi... ae seg een de gin ce: oe

; past

cs

,-

y

re
Fine rolling-eountry. - Ponds very numerous ; * duck in great abun- .
_ . dance; junction of upper and lower trails.” adc e ees ee neenees 25°
. Open country, with excellent Pasturage, all, the: way to Fort Ellice. i)
: Fort Garry to Fort Elica on- Beaver Creek, via the Whito ‘Mud. ve
‘River U0: | Ca a 236,

t

“It would not be. safe’ to rely upon ‘getting any provisions at |
’ Fort Ellice ; ‘they | are generally,-< ‘ starving)”. during. the early ©

_ > Bummer, awaiting the Supplies of Buffalo- meat from the prai-

_Ties. - The xoute from: ‘Fort-E Ellice: will- dépend upon-the deter-~
" mingtion ion of the party to takes course direct to the. Kananaski |
_ Pass; via th Qu*A ppelle and the south branch of the Saskatshe-
wan,’ or by ihe -Touchwood Hills, Carlton, and the: Rocky ..
Mountain House, to the Vermillion Pass. If the party is |

. Strong, and accompanied by-half- bréeds, the shortest: way. will «

no doubt. be through the Blackfeet and Piegan country ;, but,”

- if there are no half-breeds in ‘company, the route should be by’ -

_ the: Touchwood ‘Hills and the north branch of the Saskatche-
wan. I shall first describe the route via the Qu’Appelle a and
_ othe South Bianch, coe a ”

FORT: ELLICE a THE ELBOW OF THE ‘SOUTH BRANCH OF,

. THE SASKATCHEWAN. a. woeta 7

“ pairie succeed: Dede tele eee c aces esas ease asec een etees ae: .

Men undglaiag open prairie, succeeded bya irecless rolling} prairie,
eed or Bear Berry Ridge, camp on an undulating prairie, with
. clumps of poplar and‘willows. Soil of prairies traversed, light.”
with gravelly ridges: Areas of rich loam with good grass in the ©," :
. «depressions, Abundance of water in numerous: ponds dotting - ~ coe
% the plain. Wood scarce, Trail runs parallel’ to the Qu'Appelie ne
‘at o "distance Of 12-16 miles... 0.6. cece cee e eee eee tens 26y° 0°.
- Haltafter 12 miles travel over a vast. treeless rolling prairie, with wt
. soil and herbage as before.. From this station.on-an pen plain, 27
_ the’ woods of ‘the Qu’ 'Appelle, 32-18 miles off, may'be seen. . ae
.’ "* Indian .Head Hills" succeed. PASS THE:. 'QWAPPELLE: ve ae
Toe“ BORT TRAIL, course: lies over'a light” treeless~ undulating -prai--; ¢-—--—-- ~~
- < le, sloping gently towards the Qu’Appelle, and intersecter by"
several creeks flowing i in deep valleys. Plenty: of wood, water.
: ‘and grass....\. cece cece ee ceva sete neee teers ecessnae te
A vast level prairie, with dark, rich soil, ‘bearing luxuriant grass,
. followed by a light, undulating prairie with many knolls, ridges, |,
“and ponds. Church of England Missionary Post at the Fish-’” Soot
- ing Takes, Qu'Appelle Valley. Good grazing’ in the valley: ie ee
ios “186 Sy
The is bya no means necessary. to go: to the. Qu! Appella Mis- ae
sion.” wre trail to. Qu’Appelle Fort, referred to'in'a. proceed- a

. ing paragraph, may be pursued on-towards. the, Forks of, the. -
‘Qu’Appelle, and the route to the Elbow of the: South Branch °
“ may follow: ‘either. side, of ‘the’ river. : The: south is perhaps
a equally as good. as the north side, which I followed: i in 1858, ~
a although. the: gullies are ‘not’ so deep, but buffalo are: more ue
"”', amimerous on the south sidé*than the north: “On approaching |”
the Sandy’ ‘Hills it will ‘be advisable- to- keep a sharp: ‘look-out +,
‘for Blackfeet: and. Plain, Crees, espegially the ‘latter, who are*
_ Certain’.to’ be seen ‘in’ considerable fraser this - ‘being: their’.
hunting ground during the'summer"months, when they ‘employ aa
.” theniselves in‘running. sndeimpounding buffalo, particy at

on to the whites; ‘their chict is snamed Waeoosnt o or “The Fox;”
“+? the chief of the Sandy Hills is: MisticKoos-or “ Short-stick. moe
”- It would be advisable;to inuke them.s small présent of. tobacco,
tea, powder and. ball. . i RS oe

The following’ are thence — Se rl : ,
, soo . mine,
Qu Arrentz Forr 70 1H Forxs._—-Good pasturage, wood and: water 45
. Cross the Qu’ Appelle at the. Fekke-and ascend to the north side: .
Jv. ' 1. Light prairia, short grass... 25.00.60 lle lee cece anes ~15}.. ae
ce ee Undulating: prairie of-light- sandy ahd: Jgrivelly “soil; with ® poor ‘short ~
o Food: and water in ravines, The. tral retreats twoor Chetan

‘ - Prail oops away from ‘the river to head the’ ravines, Prairie of ick ~ aa
. \., «Sand with numerous boulders. Grazing poor, . Wood and water,
voo.*" ** gearce, * Buffalo probably visible 2.02.00... 106 duane gee tees : 20
_ .’ Sterile‘and stony buffalo plain, poor ‘grass, no water for some: ‘niles, Ltt
oe Sand Hill Lake; with good grass in the flats. Sand Hill Lakeis |”
>, salt. A spring‘on the south ‘side-on the hill near the east end -

ee of Sand Hill Lake. Wood very'scarce, ..Cross'the Qu’ Appelle, 16}.

oe Re-cross the Qu’Appelle yalley after five miles, Plenty of: ‘water’ OP en
rhe! ‘ ‘among the Sandy Hills. Grazing indifferent ..2......00050¢9! ae: ee
wo . North bank of thé “ River that Turns” to the Elbow. of the South . . SS

+ Branch. _ Good wood, water: and pasturage. Uross ‘the “River -
~ that: Turns,” near its mouth, and proceed to ford about halfa |

: 2. mile! above ‘its, junction “with - the South Branch of: the ‘Sas-- 0 *S _
.. Katchewun eet eweceace ete hb eeeeade tines Seeeceveeas 2 it a :

- From-Fort Ellice'to.the, ibow of the South, Branch of the Seca on
chewan, near the Qu’ Appelle River.>. pee ale oe ee weeny . B08 Se

-From Fort: Garry to the Elbow of the. ‘South. Branch... , 531 . © a

From. St Paul to the EXbow of the South Branch, via Fort Gey 9B"

. “After passing: the south branch of: ‘the Saskatchewan ‘ad the -- ey
“ Elbow, the. travellers enter. a region in hich there is. not only.

no trail; ‘but + frequently, Aifioulty in | procuring: pastygage and :

. “wood. ‘The best course is to keep%rithin two or three miles. ,
. of the South. Branch 'as far as the ld Hudson Bay. Company's -
‘Post, Chesterfield House, now-abandoned, a distance: of ninety ~

- miles. “From Chesterfield’ House the course isc by the banks
of Red. Deer’ River. With the’ exception of the deep and .
narrow valley ¢ of Red Deer. River, the: prairié is a sterile and

‘barren. -country,. with scanty. herbage 1 and no wood, but: there . .

is good feed on, the high’ plateaus to the north. | The couné
try'drained’ sby the South Branch and. its tributaries south” of
the wooded region, shown on. the map as-the ‘Fertile’ Belt,’ is .
_ an arid:treeless ‘regiop. _ On the elevations, four hundred feet .
“above the plain,’ the ‘aspen and ‘willows occur in patches: tor...
gether, with. good: grazing: ground... The Indians.who-hunt on
these arid plains, are, the ‘Blackfeet, ‘the Bloods, ‘and’ the’ Pies. .
game. “Capt Palliser thus: describes the: Blackfeet: -

ou Owing to-my; having been 80 much i ‘in, the. Blackfoot, ‘country; oth in in |

. the summer-of-1858.and. the winter. of.1858~-0, all-the: chiefs. and. princi-.

» pal men know me, and frequently, said to. ‘me, * Desire us to do anything -

hi pleage-and-we' will do it” “Doctor Hector has also, acqiired: a great
influence among. them- “by. removing some trifing complaints from the”
men, ind-s. great: success, in. his profession. among. the women and ‘chil- -
' ‘dren... Neither. is this friendly feeling-confined to the Blackfeet. alone, for
- both: ‘Piegans-and, Blood Indians; whenever ‘they.came in any numbers to
‘visit ine, always rode unarmed into my camp, whieh i is. the mrentest com: - a
-plinient that these-Indians can possibly pay. ; . “
= “We haye-now-travelled through. the whole. of their. tarzitories, ‘a por-
fete ‘tion: “of coun “50; -dang rous_as:to be, almost: inaccessible, ‘and, we hive «
. ‘neither had-a.horse.s len-or.a gun pointed:at-us by any: of these. tribes. ' -
- However, I: do; not. wish to, infer, thata total stranger. would; be equally
“sal nor "that any, ona accompanied by a military force (uhless that force
“were a very ,large‘one) would:also be safo; I think.in. either case.they ~
‘wwould-run-a¥ ory great. risk of: having: all: their, horses stolen.” These In-.
a = og inter, lasge-camps, | from 400 t to, 600 tents teeptber: Blue _
a i" -!

“

Le . wo, Do, mee ys
sd nn 12d ' ‘ ne fo foa

Red. Deer River can be followed wp to the junction ofa |
small tributary \possing. to Slaughter Camp; ‘Shown’ on the: Ae.

‘map, and.from thii-place the course ‘will be to.Old Bow Fort \. «;
or Bow River. —\ po wt
Frém Bow Fort.tio passes are open to the Kootanie River .

-. °' and the ‘Columbia ver—one the Kananaskt Pass, which ~~"
tO | leads/ directly to’-the Kootanie, the other the, VERMILLION

\ Pass, which first touc es the Kootanié River, and then by the -

“c-----4-ARjeking-horse Pass legde the ‘tiavelléF to'this Colittabias. Gald? > =

_ + | has been found on the oottinie,; and a ‘rush”’ of miners has

* “ \already taken place ‘to \the’ valley of this river, Capt.Palliser -

hoe
Y

‘4 / thus describes the Kawanaski Pass, 0 +, = Cn
fede oo > etd KAN ANASET PASS.) 00) 77 Cartiplaadg™7T™

i “On the 18th of August I started to seck for thie new pass across the.
Rocky Mountains, proceeding up the north side of the souffi"branch of.

' the Saskatchewan or Bow River, ‘passing the mouth of Kananaskis—-~---

",” River. Five miles higher up we ‘crossed the Bow'River and entered a

: ravine, . We fell upon Kananaskis River and -travelled'up itin.a south.
J westerly directibn; and ‘th following day we reached -Kananaskis Prairie, _
ie known to:the Indians as ¢ 16 place “where Kananaskis was-stunned but, ''’ -

not killed.” - On'the 21st we passed two lakes about two miles long and
one wide.” We continued our course, winding through this gorge in the _
.. _» mountaihs-among cliffs of'a tremendous height, yet our onward progress ~~
-~ “was not impeded by obstacles of any consequence; the only difficulty .. |.
" * ‘Wo @xperienced was occasioned: by quantities of fallen. timber caused by: -.
-. fires. I observed that many, indeed most of these tremendous fires are. | - Nines
: caused by lightning: and in one or two places:traced their progress where -
the foot of man could neyer have trod te ee .
.'v “On the 22nd of August we reached the height of land between the... -
, Waters of Kananaskis River and a new river, a tributary of the Kootanie.. ~~" '
‘River. We remained ‘here for the rest of: the'day, occupied ‘with.obser-. °’.
’ vations,. Our height above the Bow, Fort was-now 1,886 feet, ‘or'above™- *.
| the sea 5,985 feet, Next morning we,commenced our ‘descent,.and for, -
wo the first time we were obliged to get off and ‘walk; leading our horses.
down. a_ precipitous. slope of 960 feet ‘over: loose angular. fragments-of, ‘ “
\ > Took, This ‘portion’ over, our route continued, for several days through >

aon -

~o

a : an ° hoe NT, ye faa . toe er a

“tye

2”

js

—-—--~eepted-‘my-view,-Esaw both the-Oolumbia- ihikes;; the Columbia rising out -

we

S the > Vermillion Pasi, which he deseribes a8 follows fern’

- dense masses. ‘of fallen ‘timber, destroyed by fire, where “ ‘our ‘progress .
‘ was very slow,, not. owing to any difficulty. of ‘the mountains, buton .

ee eet . . fy . . sat, ;
i : rs

wae

‘account of the fallen timber, which we. had. first: to climb over and then

-- to chop througtr‘to enable. the horses! to Step | or junip over it. Wecon- ‘"
. tinued at/this work from daybreak till night, and even by moonlight, , .

- Here I devoted a day to ascending gome heights : in search ‘of-a viewof
the Columbia River. After climbing several t plountains i in rain, Tat last -

- face, Climbing a:high tree in order to overlook. the woods which inter- .

115° 50" W.”

and a@ length reached.the Columbig. Portage on the 27th of August.”

was ‘astonished to find ‘myself right upon the. bank of the lake from
‘which the Columbia rises, nt. height 0 ni 2,800 ‘fobt, over the sur-:

of the southern, flowing | into-the northern one,' out of Which it bends to '
‘the westward previous to takin; ne its northern. course to the\boat' eneamp-' .
ment. The most southerly © these lakeg is in lat. 50° 1? No., Jong...

The Kananaski Pass i is the one which Sir if George Simpson: ”
traversed; and is described inchis: overland j journey round theo

’ world, About: fifty emigrants from Red River went through, ~

.

this pass. many: years, since, but both’ Sir George Simpson’ and

_ the.emignants made’ their 1 way to the: -Colunibia- River i in, the -.
deh of the Cariboo gold: region, | °;.. |

United States: ‘territory, far 80
passing. thréugh | the aurifer rous valley of. the ‘Kootanie, little.

‘snspecting that this mountoin river would soon, be’ alive with

. seekers. ta

hy firewood.” A small. stream. “Joins: ‘the river from: ‘the west at this Pha,

“prospectors ” ‘or miners, sine its, deep | solitudes. ‘disturbed by ©
‘the ‘rude and: motley tra

Dr. Heetor. travelled tion Bow ‘River to. ‘the Colima oy

ne t

me ‘aE, VERMILLION. PaS8, 98 0 i. rr

pee he

oa The site of Old Bow Fort is marked only; by 3 group of mud! ‘an

stone chimneys, . the remainder of the’ fort having been ‘constructed ' of...
timber, all of which Kas long: ‘been removed and used by’ the Indians as .

7

h
ON

+

which generally fellow the ou :

2 pT » =, 26
‘and tht main stream itself makes a bend. from a north to an, easterly
course. Bow Fort is 4,100 feet above the ses. -
“On the 11th’ ‘August M. Bourgeau and I started and camped together
about 11 miles up the valley of Bow River, on the-banks ofa Jake formed
_ by a dilatation of thie river in consequerice of the valley being barred by

te

immense deposits of rounded shingle. Our road was rather a bad oné, oO,

on account of the fallen timber which impeded our path, the: valley not
having been frequented by the Indians for many years. | .

4

“This first portion of the valley cuts thfough five parallel ranges of.

mountains, at right angles to their axis. hese are composed of beds of

5 , crystalline and. compact f fossiliferous limestone (most likely of carbonif- ... .

erous age) dipping at 80° to W. S. W., but having several obscure rch
tions. Two well-marked peaks occur on either side of the valley,, which
. M..Bourgeau named ‘ Grotto’ and ‘Pigeon ' peaks. rer
4 é “ After passing, the former of these, the following morning (havin
| “"T- ° taken leave of M. Bourgeau, who remained, to-examine this’: mountain)...
goo entered-a-wide “trough-like valley, 7 “Fanning: ‘to S.S.E.,-through which Tt
contrived to" follow up Bow, River inthe opposite. ‘direction for three
ao days. This trough continues to run through the mountains, beyond the

points. where the river leaves. and enters it; the’ latter being: between ” Doe

“* Cascade’ and-‘Rundle” mountains. ye 8

‘the.water falls,’ rises.as a series of pyecipices” to the height of 4,521 feet -
_tabove a small level plain at its hase’ and is so abrupt’ that its summit is

po. "Ga view at- a<horizontal distance of 2,200 yards. It- may-be taken as a
oy _ type of the’ mountains -in this portion of the chain, all being equally
» precipitous’ ‘and inaccessible.. - :

passipig’at right anglés tothe chain so as to cross the ‘ Saw-back” range,
which are composed of the same strata as before, but now ~alinost verti-
. cal, having only a slight inclination to W.S.W.
~ fA fter following up the, valley which then «was reached, to N.W. for
. three days, on the oe Larrived at *Wasile’ Mount, épposite the entrance
| to'the * Vermillion !

y “> | “&Caseade’ Mount which is kno ho the Indians as; athe ‘place where ;

a Ss om’ the-Cascade. Mount the river‘valley again “ghanges its direction a

Pass. I had alfeady passed three small tributaries, :

by foliowing’up either of which, thé height of land can be crossed.to the -

Kootanie River, but judging: from indian report, none of these were 50.

promising as this one,. by. which I now resolved-to cross the water-line-

of the mountains,
a ’ “The mountains now began to wear a different aspect, more massive,
,>' and. evidently much loftier. They are composed of white and pink
quartzose sandstone, almiost passing into a quartzite in some parts, and
_ in others into a fine conglomerate. an

Loe coe . .
t . . . in
iy tee :

oe QT
“9 €On the ‘20th'T crossed Bow + River, -without: swimming the horses and

unloading their packs and, after a six hours’ march through thick
woods, reached the: ‘eight of land the same afternoon.

“the Old."Bow Fort camp,’ to. be 300. feet, thus giving for the height of

. b ” land 940 feet. The small stream along which we had ascended here

ends in two small lakes, the water of which is beautifully clear; and 200

a yards further on, and at 17 feet above the level of’ the “upper lake, we

. came on a rapid turbid stream, flowing to,the'S.W., which was the head * ~

, ‘of the Vermillion River, the > principal branch of the Kootanie River.

-| "The: height ‘of the land'is In 51° 8” 80’ N.. longitude by account 1162
‘1 857° WY Itis in a wide valley; between outlying shoulders of two snow- .

vale ‘..katchewan.is hardly_perceptible to -the traveller--who is -prephred for .a...

J

» .

| clad mountains, which I named’ after Mr. Ball and Colonel \Lefroy, the
a latter being to the west. The ascent to the watershed from the Sas-

tremendous climb, by which ‘to reach: the dividing -ridge of the Rocky
Mountains; and no labour ‘would, be required, except that of hewing

timber to construct an easy road for carts, by which it-might be attained.

‘The three following days were occupied i in the descent of Vermillion
“River, which, after flowing to S.W.-by W.' for nine-miles, suddenly
changes.its. course to §.E. for 18 miles, hen it. again changes to Ss

- escaping-into a wide. valley to join a much smaller stream, which i is the

‘Kootanie River.
“Tn its course of about 40 miles, it descends, 1,227 “thet, so that at its
junction with the main stream it is 888 feet below the Old Fort:) ,
“i. “It becomes-of considerable size a very short way from-its source, as
"it receives large tributaries from glaciers: ‘which oceupy’the valleys of
Mounts:Lefroy, Ball, and Goodsir. ‘The valley through whith it flows
_ .is contracted only. at one. point — ‘The Gorge,’ near ‘its. lower part,
_ where two. lofty mountains seem to close’in on the stream, without,
‘however, in reality causing ‘bny great difficulty in passing along its base.

: “By careful barometric readings I found the Fido! ‘from the river to bo. *
|, 589 feet; ‘and I consider’ ‘the rise of the river, to: where I crossed it from

‘4 road for carts down the valley of Vermillion River, from the.

. height-of Jand to’ the Kootanie River, could be cleared without ‘difficulty,

“or, supposing the road to follow a straight ‘ling along*the river, and the -

descent to be uniform, which’ i almbst i AB, , the incline would only be 40° ,

“feet in a mile, or 1 in 185.
“The absence of any abrupt steps, either i in the ‘ascent or descent,

. together with the small altitude to be passed over, form very favourable .

‘points | in the consideration of,this pass as a lirie ofroute. ”
-~" Ascending the Kootanic’ River on the 27th, I reached-the height of

"and which divides it from one of the principal tributaries of the Comme

8 va oot. ‘ a ey Joi
- ” - v * ‘

, &
. at 1 + » r ae
oo Oe The LY et. eel fo _ Sor, .
:

eT YP eT tte eet TU de erg ee ee teh ee te

a kwete®

- River, called Beaver Foot River:

~~ of the Columbia

28°
ty ; : vt ; i. =
The watershed is in a large. morass,
with several lakes occupying the bottom of a deep wide valley, common
to the two streams, although flowing in opposite directions. The line of -
.watershed is so little marked that itis impossible to cross even on foot —
between the two streams without.going in water. |. ‘- °

Y ;
It is on the-51st parallel of Jatitude, in longitude 117° 10” W.. On the .

north side of the valley are. Mount Goodsir and. Pyramid Mountain, and

‘on'the south is the Brisco range,\which although of no great elevation

(about .2,000 feet above the’ eye) run, as ah unbroken. wall, to S.S.E.

. My. Indian: declared that thie river we had-now struck wag the head_of™
.. the north branch of. the Saskatchewan, and wishe follow itrdown,
.cbut ifmy barometer and sympiesometer were acting -With any approach

to accuracy we were now about on a level with what I had found to be_.,
the elevation of the Mountain House during last winter, 30 that this could °,

*

: not be the case. In addition, the change in the vegetation, especially _
the gecurrence of cedar, :convinced me that we were really on» branch "__-

‘‘\T accordingly only. followed it for two days, and on 29th reached the - »

mouth of a large tributary, to N.W. This river is much larger than the | -

Vermillion River, and about!four times the size of the stream into which .
it flows, being about equal to. the south branch at the point when we..

“Teft it.

“Here I received’a severe kick in the’ chest from’my horse, rendering .
me senseless, and disabling mt for some time.‘ My recovery might“huve *

- been much more tedious than it was, but for the fact-that we were now

. starving, and I found it absolutely necessary to push on after two days.

“ Where it.receives Beaver Foot, Kicking Horse River bends back on
itself, including an angle of only 20°, and after passing over a fine fall ‘of

.-about 40 feet flows on to the N. W.

“The mouth of Beaver Foot River is about 318 feet below the height

" of land where we first struck it, © _ |

“As I was-quite unable to move, I sent. my interpreter, Peter Eras- | 7

“mus, to ascend Mount Hunter, which is included in the angle of Kicking

Horse River, He'ascended for 8,496 feet, and- obtained a view, to the |

-west, of snow-clad -peaks:as far as the eye ca reach. Over the tops of

Brisco's range, and all to the’ left, of S.W.; he could perceive ho ‘moun--

i

‘tains,so that if that’ portion.of ‘country is occupied by any they must -

be of very inferior altitude.

“ While traversing this valley, since coming .on the Kootanie River,

we have had no ‘trail to follow, and it did not seem to.haye been frequent- .-
,ed by Indians for fhany years, . This makes the absence of. gazaé all-the..
more extraordinary, . The only animal which seemed to occur at alt was ..
. oh . . .t te t we

. 7 , - ; on fot : ane { vf

,

.

MN . . ; a Ct a

.Y

!

!
i

a

99

the panther. The Indian saw on, and in the evenin we heard them
calling as they skirted round our camp, attracted by the scent.

y

- .“Phe bottom of the valley is occupied by so much morass, that we
“were obliged to keep along the slope, although tho fallénitimber rendered
‘it very tedious work, and severe for our-poor horses, that now had their .

legs covered by cuts and bruises.

- “Phe timber along Beaver River is mostly ‘young, but there are the

remains of what had been a noble growth of forests, consisting of cedar,

pine, and spruce, among the latter 6f which is the magnificent prusche,

which sometimes reaches four yards in circumference. ‘J also saw a few
young maples (Negundo fraso.) Berries of ‘many kinds were very abun-

dant, and, indeed, had it not been for this we would haye suffered much .
_ from hunger.” '’ ne . . Me .

_HOWSE'S PASS.: | on
In 1859 Dr. Hector: crossed the mountains by Howse’s

“Pass, and went up the Columbia to a point within a few miles

of the Boat. Encampment, near tothe Athabasca Pass.
Howse’s Pass‘is‘thus-described by Dr. Hector.
' “From the site‘of Bow Fort I followed up my track of the preceding

opposite the Vermillion Pass. Instead of crossing the watershed at this

summer, along the valley of Bow te until [reached Castle Mount,

. ‘place, the hope of. procuring game and adding to my stock of provisions,
‘to which up to this time we had’ avoided having.recourse, induced me-
to get to the north-west as far as possible,. keeping on the eastern slope -
.of the mountains. I accordingly passed from-the South to the North _
Saskatchewan by the Pipe Stone Pass, which is further to the east”
than the- Little Fork Pass, by which I crossed this tranverse ‘divide -
in the preceding ‘simmer, This’ pass follows up a small tributary to -

Bow River. from the north, and_aftér having. traversed a height of Jand

_ ‘at ‘an.altitude of about 7,000 feet/ descends-what I name the Sifleur
“River to the north. branch of: the /Saskatchewan at the ‘Kootanic. plain.
Here I left my Indians, as they had by their hunting added 70-1bs. to ~
. my ‘store of pemmican, and they;were now likely, fromthe natureof the -.

country I was about to traverse,’to consume moresthan they would kill. ,

' “ Altering my course to the §.W., I followed-tip the Saskatchewan.to

its source, and searched for.a pass tothe Columbia, of the existence of _

which I had been informed by:the Indians.
“Choosing the middle fork,

ms

: T-found it to rise in three branches; tyro of _
which are deriyed-from immense glaciers,. while the thid ig merely a

= los
Da sek

; . , oo
, . eo ’ vs “ee . .
= : L 80: ‘ 2“ ys . ‘

.°. small stream, issuing from’ 4 wide valley, the bottom of which is.Jevel
at and heavily wooded, and without any perceptible dividing ‘ridge gives riso
' | also to a branch of the Columbia flowing to the south. , - ,
so “Chis height of land is at an altitude of about 4,800 feet, and isin ©
* , Tat. 51° 467 N., long. 117° 80¢ W. In reaching it the as¢ent.is impercep-
_ tible, but the ‘Valley of ‘the great fork is closely hemmed’ by lofty preci-
pices, its.--whole, width of about half a mile: being occupied by. shingle y
deposits, showing that during the floods the channel of the river must —« /
be of great breadth, and the valley almost impassable. vA
“One of the glaciers i in which this river rises is of magnificent dimen-
sions, even exceeding. those of the one at the Glacier Lake, which was |
examined the ‘preceding summer. It must be .at least nine miles long”
and "three wide, and’descends from the same ‘mer de glace’ that envel-
opes the higher portions of: the mountains for a considerable way tothe
nort
- On 7th Septémber. I commenced ‘the descent to the Columbia by
ween Blueberry. River,.a:stream which rapidly-increases-i ini size,-and- descends- werere
about 2,000 feet’ through a very:contracted valley-in its course’ ‘of about |
» Bb miles. At various.points we found traces of an old trail, Avhich ‘had
evidently been out of use for many years, so that I have no doubt that .
this was the pass traversed by Howse in August.1810, as laid: down in
di Mr. Arrowsmith’s most recent maps. It was at that time useasa . -
portage route from the east to the w ide, of the: motintaing,” but was,
— abandoned -infavour-of ‘the-more-northerly route by’ the boat encamp-

‘ ment, -

“The diffictlties of descending this valley are vely € great, arising from
the density of the forest growth, and the contraction ofthe valley at’
various points by rocky barriers. We were occupied nine days in de-
scending a distance of 35 miles to its mouth, Which is in Jat! 51° 26‘ N,

: ong: about 117° 50’ Ww. “Where it enters 0 valley of the. Columbia
iver, Blueberry River. winds*over immenége. -flatsgof rounded: Shingle,. |
testifying to the amount of material brought ‘downyirom the mountains
" . + by the spring floods.’ - . vA
: “The Columbia at the point where we struck it is flowing to N. We
about 210 yards wide, and very sluggish and deep. Its valley is from”
threé‘to four miles wide, and bounded by mountains, which to its right, -
rise from 8,000 to 4,000 feet above its level, but on the left are i, 000 feet , ;
ower.

‘A range of low hills occupy ‘the céntre of the valley, througti which. |
Blueberry River passes in deep rocky cafion before joining the’ main °
stream. “It was now my wish to follow the Columbia River down to its -
great bend at the boat encampment and thence following up the valley

ve

.yf hG . - 7 con .
f po a
. _/ of Canoe ‘River, endeavour to’ pass ‘io the head waters of the Thompson's 8. |

/ River, and so reach British Columbia. The valley of tho river appears

4 to be' wide; and the mountains seem so open-with-rolling outline, that I
/ did‘ not anticipate any, great difficulty “in. following; ‘tadh a course, if it .,
had ‘not been for the density of the forest. I spent Lome time in search- .
ing for any trace of a trail leading in the direction I desired to to follow,
but failed, as the Shooshewap Indians who inhabit this region of country .
travel solely by canoes, and keep the very few horses which they possess
in the neighbourhood of the Upper Columbia Lakes.” ae
“There appears to be little doubt that with the tuse of the axe
" a party could ‘without difficulty make their way with horses, if
hot-with carts from the point where Dr. Hector returned: frgm_
the - Columbia, after having one through Howse’s Pass, (or.
_..._..what..would be better. still, through- Vermillion-Pass,)- -towards-~ -=,,- as
the Boat “Encampment and the mouth of: Canoe River. The - -
Columbia is navigable with boats far- above this point, and -
Canoe River comes from the boundary of the present: known’

» ‘limits of the Cariboo gold region, and there is every proba- ©
bility that it is also auriferous:~ Canoe River and its valley °°
must become an all important point, for it leads directly to

“the Cariboo country. It has been visited, and part of it de-.
7 scribed by Mr. Ross in his “ Fur Hunters.” He visited this

’. yiver from the She-waps on the Thompsoui River,coming across |.
the’ land,,in 1816. Canoe River is 40 yards. broad at its
mouth. . _

All the passes through the Rocky. Mountains, with the -
single- exception of the “Vermillion Pass, aro distinguished
by-a. gradual slope. to :the. east and an abrupt and-difficult <*> *.
descent to the west. This. fact points out the VERMILLION, =<
Pass as the one which ‘will probably be ultimately adépted as =
& Waggon route across the mountains, . Although Howes B

ve

gS

.7 ot
fk CY

’ Pass is s much. obstructed with timaber, yet it possesses one :

advantage—the road to it lies through ‘the valley of the North? |

‘ Branch of the Saskatchewan, and it may be approached ‘by
the northern:or wood route,- via Carlton, Edmonton, and

ce

Rocky Mountain House. For a distance of seventy miles of | -

its course through the mountains, this great river flows in. a
/ wide valley deeply filled with drift, which, by the way, is, very

' probably highly auriferous, as gold has been found in several *
_ Jocalities, On the banks of the North Branch in the nioun-

tains there is always level ground owing to the deep drift, and
- it sometimes expands into wide plains, as the Kootanie Plains,

_ where. pasturage is good and game very ¢ abundant... The vale

-~“Jey of thé North Branch cuts through the mountains more
-Girectly than that of the South Branch, ‘and i ia accordingly.

* much shorter.

THE KOOTANIE PASS.

parallel, is through a very poor’ country, between longitudes

109° W. and 118° 40’. - It is‘a level; sandy, arid plain, with’

‘little water, and even that doubtful supply, brackish.- The
herbage i is poor and scanty. ‘The Kootanie Pass is practica-.
‘ble for horses, and is frequently 1 used, being approached from,
-.Bow Fort; if is not so good as the ‘Kananaski or Emigrant
Pass. One trail from it leads to Kootanie Post,in the United

The direct approach to the Kootanie Pass, near, ‘the 49th

States Territory, another trail goes tip the Kootanie River and _ :

thence tothe Columbia by the Columbia: Lakes}: and a third. :

‘to Flat Bow Lake and thence to Fort Shepherd... The coun-

try between the Kootanie River ‘and. Flat Bow: Lake is very’

83 ae -
“favourable for a road, but is much obstructed at the present
time ‘with fallen and-burnttimber. There are no sudden rises
or descents, and were it not.so near the boundary line, and
. 80 far removed from the accessible portion of British Colum-
— play it would probably become .a-valuable line of communica- .
“; ‘tion, It is, however, 200 miles south of the Oariboo Gold °
Region. — me
. The leading dimensions of the Kootanie ‘Pass are stated by -
~ Captain Blakiston to be approximately as follows: 2

The extremity of the Kootanie Pass on the east side of the Rocky Moun-: -.-
tains is 40 and on‘the west side 18 English miles to the northward of the ~~~
. international boundary. “Its length is 40 geographical or nearly 47 English
___......._miles, extending from longitude 114° 84” to 115° 24” west: It leayes'the

ov

Saskatchewan Plains where they have an- altitude of about 4,000 feet
above the sea, rises 2,000 feet to the watershed of the mountains, .
‘descends to Flathead River, again to an altitude of 4,000, follows up
this river to its head waters, then crosses's’ precipitous ridge, reaching of
an altitude.of 6,000 fect; it then descends the great western slope, fall- "
ing’ 2,000 fect in two miles of horizontal distance, after which, by 8 | :
nearly uniform grade of 100 feet per geographical mile; it gains the | ~
Tobacco Plains at the point where the. Wigwam branch. enters Kootanie . “=
or Elk River. ee
'. “On the Kananadlt cor Lake River.are the remains of many wooden
. carts which were abandoned by 4 party of emigrants fromi. Red River .
Settlement, under ‘the late Mr. James Sinclair, on their way to the :
Columbia in 1854, who found ‘it impossible to drag them further intothe ==
mountains. “This pass follows the course of the river’to its source, and’ oa
is the one ‘by which Sir George Simpson, governor of the territories-of © |
._,, . the-Hudson’s Bay Company, : as well as another party. of emigrants, pom
“.\ ¢rossed the Rocky Mountains in 1841. os
7x. OM ‘The forests consist of: ‘apruce, a small pine, also a few balsam poplar , ;
and aspen. In travelling through. these mountain forests, the greatest
. Obstruction is the fallen timber, which, lying about in ail directions, :
* : causes much .exertion to the‘horses; and confines them to a slow. pace.”
During the traverse Capt, Blakiston. ‘noticed the devastating effects of a ..
‘tempest: “numbers of trées’ had been blown down; and many broken
shortoff,- The work of.destruction had evidently been of that year, hut,

there. were also” signs 0 of former work of the. Bame character.”

~ ethos at

t
a“

I. THE ATHABASCA PASS
This is the most: northern pass practic able for horses ; it is.

“very abrupt on the western side, and leads tothe mouth of

- Canoe River or Boat Encampment. It may be approached

from ‘Rocky Mountain House, from which place 1 Hudson’s -
Bay Company's trail leads to and through it. Mr. J. Miles went ~
"through this Pass ‘on horseback as far. as Boat Encampment

in 1854, but he describes: vit ag '«yery hard riding.” ” Although. -
this Pass leads directly to Canoe River, the nearest’ approach |

' to the Cariboo region, yet the country by which it is approach-

ed is thought not’ to be go favourable nor. so short ‘as the
_Bpproach to the Howes’s or the Vermillion Pass. -

Ar full doseription is given of the’ “Athabasca Pass in “Rose? a

“Tur Hunters.” He traversediti in the spring when the snow |

- was deep, also on returning on horseback. ‘here is an im-.

mense difference’ between ‘the journe ‘in Spring and in.

, ‘Autumn. , Wien the snows melt the rivers are full, the rocks
7 are slippery, melting ice meets the eye in all directions, ‘and.’

everything is cold, wet and comfortless. “In autumn ‘or the

.. close of summer all is changed. For foaming: torrents. you
have rippling brooks; for cold, storms and clouds, a bright .

clear-sky and warm genial nights ; 3 ico and ‘snow far above on”
the mountain: : tops. ,

«To, give,” he says, “gy dorrect “idea of this part of our
journey let ‘the reader picture in his own mind a dark narrow

defile, skirted.on one side by-a chain of inaccessible moun-
tains, rising té o great: héight, covered ‘with’ snow, ‘and slip-..
pery with ice from their,tops down to the waters edge... And.
. on the other side a beach comparatively low, but.studded in”

f
/
/

-

e

t

ay

- aw we BB
. an irregulax. “magi standing and falle trees, rocks and |
ice, and fall: Of drift-wood,, -over which the: rreht, everywhere
ape -rusheg-with uel irresistible impetuosity at very.few would
daré'to, adventure themselves 3 dn the stréam. Let him again, ,

7 _ imagine a rapid river: déscending from som height, SS
- filling up the whole channel betwoes/rocky precipices on the * ©...
south and the no less’ dangerous’ batrier.on the north. And. oe

'. + lastly, let him suppose that we were obliged to make- our way
. on foot against such a torrent, b crossing’ and re-crossing ‘it
in all its turns and windings frém morning till night, up to
the middle in water, and he w}ll understand that we have not.
" exaggerated the difficulties ; o be overcome jin; crossing the
~~~" Rocky “Mountains? fn en eee
Such is the descriptior given ‘of part -of -the- -Athabasea.
', Pass inthe Spring. Ross says that at the proper season the
Athabasca Pass can be;travelled from ene end to the other on” ~
horseback, with the’ exception of one ‘or: two Steps on the
-.Grand Céte. c -
‘The following enumeration . shows all the: known passes i ‘in

..the Rocky’ Mountains,. between the plains of the Saskatche: Soe
- wan and British Columbia :— :
1. Cow Dung Lake Portage, or “ Leather Pies” se eaes . Latitude Bae, 0” ~
2. Boat Encampment or. original Athabasca Portage.. © “ . 58°. 07
8. Howse’s Pass. .i ses e cece cease eee ene sere eens + 61° 457
4, Kicking Horse Pass, from: South Branch to the | en
2 Columbia... ... ccc ee ee ee ec eee nes “br 257
5. Vermillion Pass, from South Branch to ‘the Koota-" o .
Die River... cc. c cee tee eee tae eee ene “ B18 10”
- 6. ‘Kananaski or Eniigrant Pass, from South Branch to i toe
74 50° 40%."

the Kootanie River. cence nec cee nee eetnnees
. %, Crow Nest Pass. ; see wale % - 49° 407 :
+ 8. Keotanie Pass ...... seteeeeee peseess : “749%, 257

Sol.

86
‘To these may be added : From the Kootanie River to the
Columbia, the Lake Pass and Beaver Foot Pass; from ‘the —
©”South Branch of the Saskatchewan to the North Branch, the
Littie Fork Pass and the Pipe-stone Pass,
The ‘following are the altitudes of the principal passes above ,

. the sea :— ee
_ Le: z
Kicking Horse PASS. eee cece nee Stee Above the Sex’ 5,420 foot
+ Vermillion Pass. ........ cece eee tence ge 4,944
Kananaski Pass......... 600 e005 Nebw ec eeas we 5,985
Kootanio Pass......0......000055 Ceeeaee “ 6,000 *

THE NORTHERN ROUTE via- EDMONTON AND ROCKY Looe
_-MOUNTAIN- HOUSE. -—-=---—---*-- Be

Starting from Fort. Ellice, this. route passes through the
beautiful scetery of the Touchwood Hills by a well’ beaten .
trail, and thence on to the. South Branch of the Saskatche-

wan, ‘south of the Lumpy Hill of the Woods, shown on the -

map. The river there is deep and; ‘rapid, but not more than

- 180 yards broad. It cannot- -be forded, but’ supplies can be

ferried across by means of. a temporary boat made out of &
cart wheel, or two tied together, and oil cloths.’ The horses
will swim across without. trouble. The carts must be floated
and towed across. The distance from Fort Ellice to the
crossing of the South Branch is about 280 miles, or 516 from
Fort ‘Garry. The road is excellent, wood and ‘water abundant,

- and-‘in.the Touchwood Hills; ‘and north and west of them,:

_ Appelle, as the Qu’Appelle crossing is. had, the riyer being

ducks and geese are innumerable. If this route is ‘selected, the - _

Assinijoine should be- forded: above the 2 _mouth of the. ‘Qu’-

N i re
deep. and the, banks muddy. . It will probably, bq unnséessary 7 ;
to touch at Carlton, no advantage i is to be gained by doing so |
except assistance in crossing the North Branch of thé se - _ /
katchewan; if the north side should. be preferred to the foute. ..

by the- Eagle. Iills, From Carlton thore is a Hudson Bay - “
; 5 - Company’ 8 trail all the.way to the Rocky “Mountain House, ~ |
in via Fort Pitt and Edinonton.., It lies chiefly on,the north side | a
"of tue river, and is the safest route, as the Blackfeet do not =:
generally cross the river, buf i din the summer keep to! the open
_ Plains following the buffalo; ‘The roufe by Battle River to
*- Rocky Mountain House is much'thé shortest,’ but Battle J River
_. -is-frequented.-by- Blackfeet nd. ‘Plain. Cred. Indians, and it...
would be desirable, if. possible, to: ‘procure ay guide’ at, Edmon-
ton or at the R. C. Mission at St.Ann,'fifty miles west of
Edmonton. From Edmonton the jroute | qrould lie to ‘Rocky
“Mountain House and thence to the seldoted pass, the most =.
- favourable being the Vermillion Pass. } I ee
It is to be observed that Rocky Mountain House. is not
. tenanted during the summér months. Edmonton i is a large
establishment, and the residence of a chief factor of the Hud-
son Bay Company.’ In 1859 it numbered 40 men, 30 women, |
- and 80 children: «St. Ann is a village of free men’ containing .

- about 45 houses. Rocky Mountain’ ‘House i is about 100 miles .
from-the main chain of ‘the mountains, ‘but their snow-clad
peaks are visible from it. A subordinate range | is 45 miles:
.from the post, and the. country between the two pointsis

“densely. covered with a pine forest, through which Dr. Hector
vainly endeavoured to penetrate, aa \ oN.

eo.

ao

38

TE INDIAN, TRIBES OF THE SASKATCHEWAN |
*VALLEY. .

-It.is of some importance that travellers through the Sas-

katchewan plains should be familiar with the number; habits,’

and. character of the Indians they may chance to meet: There
is far less:to fear from these wandering tribes, than is gene-
rally supposed, ‘if they are approached without any signs of -
alarm, and treated with respect and reasonable consideration.:"

The Plain or Prarie Indians belong to the following principal tribes :

e . Blackfeet, Crees, ‘
. . Bloodies, «= | ‘Assiniboines, ~
- Piegans, ', . Sioux. ,

ties

Fall Indians, or. + Gros Ventres... cee ee ee eee ee

?

———— "mS Wood Indians of the Saskatchewan - Valloy belong to the great’ _

_ family of Crees and Ojibways. The Sioux, Blackfeet,” Bloodies, ond
” Piegans are Dakotahs,

Mr. Harriet, a chief factor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who had
passed his life among the Blackfeet, estimated the six.or seven tribes .
going by that general 1 name as maustering 1,600 to 1,700 tents, at’ eight
- per tent, 13,000,

Mr. Rowand, one of the oldest resident traders, estimated the Black
feat tribes as ‘follows :— :

? Blackfeet proper:. : -e- 800
woe Piegans ........... - : eee» 400
wo Bloods .......- 02. eee elec eee ceces ‘edeueaae teeaece 250 -
. _ Gros Ventres, or ait Todiana 2222021200003 eae . 400°. |
. Circees sete eee ceca cegeeaeees teneee Mae eaeeee eee AB
- ’ ‘Cotones vt en
‘Sinall Robes 7 Mountain Tribes tetteeeneer ges cae
- At 8 persons per tent’ 18, 000... seeeeeeee Seda ceee 1645 tent.”
“The Assiniboines are divided into Strongwood and Plain n Assiniboines,
_ or Stonys. -
“Mr. Harriet; in 1842, “estitnated the

Strongwood ‘Assiniboines eee eeee . at 80 tents = ' 640:
“Mr. Rowand, the ¢ Plain Assiniboines “ 300 tem 2,400

“880 tents: — 8 8,020

ae

antl

89

' The Strongwood Crees about Edmonton - z ‘ y | |
Mr, Rowand estimated at,..... 400° tonts, at 10 per. “taht = 4, 000

Crees of the” Plains ....04...¢4. * 200 “ pe ,000 oe

* . 6,000 .
‘On the North ‘Branch of thé: Saskatchéw: an, where the Prairie Indians ;
assemble, the following o enumeration is given in the Parliamentary Blue °*

.

Book :— .
: ; : / _ No. of Indians,
Edmontan Lecce snr ce eee eset eres seaacens 7,500 *
C Carlten- eee e cence eens “alae eceeeceees Thee ene -5,000 7
Fort Pitt... 0... cece ene reece r eee eneens 7,000 ,
Rocky Mountain House .........cccce seers enes 6,000

On the west side of the: Rocky Mountains are the Koota-
_ nies, the Flatheads.and the Shoushaps.-:" a
~~ “ihe Kootanied ate not a naniérows tribe : they a ‘are aia” vey
honest and brave, but peaceable towards the whites ;. their |

chief enemies ate the Blackfeet. ° The Kootanies cross the.“ ~
Rocky. Mountains every year in the spring and_ fall-tobunt — a
‘buffalo, and cure the meat for their wint -stipplies. They: 0°”
are rich in horses, and not unfrequently ¢rade with the Black-" “.

feet.. Nearly all the Kootanies dre’ Roman Catholics. . Capt:

Blakistori says,—‘ They “are perfectly. ‘Honest, and “do not

beg, “qualities which I have never yet-met. with in “any

: Indians.” The Flatheads seldom ‘evme north of the 49th

: - parallel. “he Shoushaps travel on the pper part of Frazer’s *
- River, and on the north fork of the Columbia ; they have
os " generally conducted themselves peaceabl towards the-whites, _

-. and it is with these Indians that a party. crossing the moun-
«tains of the Vermillion Pass would come in contact as S they”
approached’ the Cariboo gold diggings... “The Blackfeet arg 2s
like their neighbors.the Stonys and the Crees; great thieves-. 3;
> Capt. Blakiston, thus describes the. Blackfeet be e

; . . , - _ = 7 we, = in

bee

“ On the 10th of September I turned my face towards Fort Edmonton,
the previously appointed winter quarters of the ‘expedition, which lay
more than thre hundred miles to the north, and as will be secen*on the
plan, passed .several “creeks, and over a country mostly prairie. I.
remained at’ the Forks of Belly River £ Sunday the 12th. ‘From this, -

«place [visited a camp of forty-five tentS of Blackfoot Indians, accompa-
nied by one of my menvnnd ‘James,’ the -Cree Indian. I was received
with the usual hospitality, and having’ expressed ‘a desire to change &
horse or two, I had no trouble the fallowing morning in exchanging one
“and buying another for ammunition, tobacco, blankets, old coat, &c.

" This tribe has the credit of being .dangerous, but'what I,have scen. of
* them, F consider thém far better. behaved than their more civilized neigh-
“~~ | bors the Crees. I inade it a rule never to hide from Indians, and,
although I had but a Small-party, to go to them as-soon-as I knew of
“---—=- their proximity. ~I also always” told them gr what réason the British “~~
Government had sent the ‘expedition to the'country; and I never failed .
+ to receive manifestations of good-will, neither was there one attempt made
te steal my horses, a practice too prevalent among ‘the Indians of these
plains.” : - ; :

‘

The Piegah Indians alone of all the tribes met by. Dr.
Hector showed any disposition to be “more than importunate.”’

oy ~

1

. THE CLIMATE OF, THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

* On. the 18th September, 1858, Dr. Hector encountered:

‘- several snow storms on the Upper.Columbia, when searching

» for a trail up that river towards the Frazer, in the direction of

", Canoe River, a-most important tract of. country, connecting as_
before stated, the Plains of the Saskatchewan directly with
the Cariboo gold diggings by the Howse's Pass or the Kicking

. >

"Horse Pass and the Vermillion Pass.-

“The winter of 1858-9 was ‘unusually severe, as far as the quantity,

. of snow is‘concerned, and ‘yct the average depth of snow, when undis-

' turbed, as in the woods; was only about eight. to twelve inches through-
out a large district between Battle River and the North Saskatchewan at
Edmonton. ‘Towards’ tho. mountains, in a south-west direction, the -

. , : a ° . Soe, les we

‘

er oo, we

~ quantity i is stil less ; but during the early part of April, after the snow
. had nearly disappeared from Edmonton, a seriés of storms from the north

» Visited the neighbourhood of Fort Pitt, so that in the middle of April o .
there were from three to four feet of snow on the ground. "—Hector. : -~

Tt is the belief,” says Dr. Hector, “that the ColumbiaVal- - “

ley i is continued to the north, following. the. course of Canoe
River that makés me so sanguine that by this route a passage:
could be effected into the valleys of either Thompson or Fra.

-, Zer Rivers.” As far South as 51°N. this great -valley is
traversed with difficulty, on account of the apruce forests,
which. are. Esa, northern, character. “After. passing a bend ee
which occurs in this latitude, the forest’ suddenly assumes a.
Californian aspect, free from underwood, and with stretches a
of open prairio.clothed with bunch grass.

‘During the first week in September, 1858; "Capt, Blakiston
crossed the mourttains of the Kootauie’ Pass. He- found
snow two feet deép 6,000 feet ahove’ the sea, level. The fol-

_ "Towing i is his description of the journey:— ; oe

@ oy

4 After two or thieo miles we began a steep aseént, and were soon on
ground entirely covered with snow, in which the tracks of the-Kootanies
who had gone before us were visible. We passed along the édge of a
very steep hill»and-it was ds much as the horses or-ourselves could do
in some plades,to keep footing, -We now descended, crossed a thickly .
wooded gully, and then commenced the ascent to the water-shed through
thick woods. The snow increased in depth as we ascended, until, on ar-
rival af the crest, it was two feet on.the Icvel, and in places heaped up to
double that depth. . It’ was cold work trudging through the snow in thin «
leather moccasins without socks; -and, to make mattets worse‘it was |
blowfg and snowing all the time.._I, however, on arriving at the water- \
shef, with the assistance of the Indian’ ‘James,’ whom | always found.
most willing,.unpacked the horse with the instrument boxes, .and ob-
tained a reading of thé barometer, which gave an altitude of 6, 080° feet.
‘We ascended along the ridge about 100 feet more, and then by a zig-zag

, track ommenced a deep descent. It was not, however, very. bad, and
x netived at a- small‘ mountain. torrent flowing, castwand,, thas

Some! - telly

BB

t

7 regaining: thio waters of the Atlantic after an ‘absence of sixteen days.
The trail continued mostly through woods down the valley du¢gecast.
The rocks on the tops of the mountains on either side-were often of very 1”
- curious shapes, and the: strata in places- much contorted; there were’:
alsé some magnificent cliffs, and thie cascades ‘of snow water falling, down
cc the narrow gullies added motion | to, the grandeur of the scene. “The
snow gradually decreased as /we descended. On arriving atthe spot .
where the'valley joins another‘I'found the Indians camped on a patch of
prairie, where I was glad enough. to ‘let my horse free, as wre Had travel-
led this day from six to six, with ahalt of only” 14 hours.”

Jn 1859 Capt. Palliser crossed thdlitootonie'P: “Pass and ¢ en-.
countered, a heavy snow storm on; ‘the 8th September a at the:
pein ~height- of: land. --2 Oe

, - In- 1858 Dr. Hector had devere weather on and about the
" 8c. Séptember at Kicking arse’ Pass. On the 8th Septem-
ber, when ascending the Soutli Branch, near its head waters, -
the mountains on each side wete covered with snow, ‘those ‘on
the south side having their valleys covered with glaciers, some
of great sizé? At the water-stied, 6,347 feet Above the level
"of the sea, snow was lying under the shade of trees, notwith-
standing thé clear mid-day sun. ‘
‘East of: the mountains, in lat. 52° 20’ N ., Several ‘inches of _
" snow fell in the last week of September, ‘and inthe first week
of October snow’ fell between Rocky Mountain Hotise and
Edmonton to the depth of 18 inches, ae mo
«Along the eastern base of the Rocky Mouintains there'i isa
narrow tract close to them where there are never more than.
- afew inches of snow on the ground, and the: rivers ‘wheh rapid
‘," ° remain open daring the winter. ° In consequence of this a few
hee ducks are found to linger throughout the whole season.in the
: qonntsine, while from-the’ Plain Country, it inf latitudes mach

ge

te 48

farther south, they are necessarily absent frem October’ til
May. Forty miles east of the mountajns the snow-fall is \
much increased, but during the depth of winter rarely exceeds - "
two feet.”’* 9 - =. | . ; a,
“The weather experienced in the’ ‘Rocky’, Mountains was tee
very irregular, with great daily range of temperature. -
Thus, in the end of August the thermometer during the night
was.as low as 14° at-an altitude of 6000 feet, and -almost. :

_every night. it fell considerably below the freezing point, -
yy although “during the day it often reached 70° to 80°. In the ~~
‘valleys of the eastern slope the amount of rain-fall is very.
small compared to that on the first partof the descent tothe’ we
west, when fine weather is the rare exception éven'in Sep- ‘

tember. This only applies, however, to the mountains north

of the fifty-first parallel of latitude, south of; which, for some _
“reason, the rain-fall-on the western slope in the valley of the ,
‘Kootanie River must be much less, judging both from ‘the ex- ;
perience of two seasons and from the nature of the vepeta-

tion, which is of the arid type. :

’ “ On the eastern slope, througHout the entiré summer, there .
>. are occasional falls of snow at altitudes above 5000 feet ; but
snow never lies deeply at any season. It. is only.on the va-~".
rious ‘ heights‘of land’ which have an altitude of from 6000

to 7000 feet, and for the first few miles of the western descent;
that-snow appears to accumtilate i in the valleys in large quan-
tities—sometimes to the depth of 16, to 20 feet, a

“Dr. Hector on the Physical Features of the central, pat of British N orth
America. -Edin. New Phil Journal - .

s , ot . . . .

¢

. 44
THE CANOE ROUTE TO.RED RIVER.

The project of a direct line of communication between
Canada and the valley of the Saskatchewan, entire] ly through ;
British territory, engaged the attention of the Canadian gov-
ernment ‘during the years 1857-8 ‘and 9.- Since that period
the question has been allowed to remain ir abeyance, and no
steps have been taken to open any one of the different routes
explored, or to encourage private ‘enterprise in this important
undertaking. The Inactivity af the Canadian government
“has no doubt arisen in great part from the “andefined position
and status of the proposed new Colony between Canada’ aid
. British Columbia. The Imperial government have not’ yet
taken any steps to organize the valley‘of the. Saskatchewan
into a separate, Colony, and: if still remains under the juris.
diction of the Hudson Bay Company. vs .

The extraordinary discoveries of gold in British Columbia,
must ‘soon lead to the adoption of some form of government
for the petple- inhabiting the valley of the Saskatchewan, as
well as to the opening of a direct line of communication
across the continent through British Territory. Such a com-

_ Inunication does “in fact exist, but it is only capable of being.

Corny

used during: the summer months, and at the best affords but a ~

tédious and expensive mode of travelling through the wilder-

ness. which separates‘Lake Superior from Red River. The =
expenditure of a comparatively | small sum of money, when the

great object in view is taken into consideration, would enable

the communication to be made with ease and expedition, and |

the works would bea necessary preliminary. to a general route
capable of being used throughout the ‘year. -

- 465
At present this communication is only available during.the
‘season of navigation, | but there are many important facts
which-are daily coming to light reapecting the north shores of
Lakes Huron and Superior, and maj y_developments taking
place which will render the winter communications through
‘these apparently inhospitable“Wwastes a commercial. necessity, ;
before many years have passed away.
‘There are three canoe routes which have been surveyed a
“between Lake Superior and Rainy Lake. The first.is the . °
“--- -- 9ld- Nor-West- Company’s-route,-via-Pigeon- River,. -and the. --
boundary line between the United States and Canada. The . °°’
second is the Kaministiquia route,.via the Savanne Portage,
Milles Lacs and Sturgeon Lake, followed by the Hudson’s
Bay Company. The third is the one surveyed by: Mr. Simon
Dawson, via Dog Lake, the Savanne Portage, Milles Lacs, :
. and the River Seine to Rainy Lake. | ae
‘In view of a ‘permanent communication across the conti-~
nent, to be constructed entirely through British territory, the =.
- Pigeon River route is. open’,to the objection, that it lies on
the boundary. line, an objection which at the juncture will be
considered: insuperable: The Seine route is shorter and no
doubt superior to that by Sturgeon Lake, it also possesses the
great advantage that it.is not only removed somé, distance
* from the boundary line, but it lies in the direction of a land
communication north of. the. deep’ indents of Rainy Lake,
which. will be ultimately ‘adopted, if a land’ route, entirely
through British territory, availuble at all‘seasons of the year,
should be constructed. j a
: The idea of a land communication between Canada and Red “,

ne aera to

ar . - . a Be ars
x.

ee a nS aa

if

:
t

«

46

River, passing altogether tbrough Canadian territory, is 3 for

‘, from being so visionary.as it is the fashion to represent; -as

before stated, events of singular importance are fast hastening
the establishment of the route. The north: shore of Lake
Turon is attracting settlers, the north shore of Lake Superior
is known- to possess, immense mineral wealth, and there i
every probability that\i in view of the national importance of —

"a route across the continent, in consequence of the amazing

gold wealth of British Columbia, the auriferous character of

.. the. Eastern Slope of -the-Rocky" ‘Mountains, anid’ thé yemark-~

able © fertility of. forty million acres in. the va Ney of the
Saskatchewan, a British AMERICAN OVERLAND ROUTE, open
throughout the year, will be an established fact within the next
ten years. This route will not necessarily sppto ach, except in

‘certain points ‘the north-shores of Lakes Huron and Superior,
- and it will ultimately turn to the north of the deep indents”

of Rainy Lake, cross. the Winnipeg at or near Rat Portage,
and not approach the boundary line within. thirty miles. .

Some portion of the summer canoe route, via the River
Seine, will probably form part of this great line of communi- -
cati:n, and I shall therefore introduce an abstract, of Mr.
Simon~Dawson’s suggestions in a brief description of the
Canoe Routes to Red River. -

The Hudson Bay Company’s route, via-the Fort. “William
atid the Kamministiquia, has been so fully deserjbed inthe |

' reports of the Canadian Red River expedition that a detailed

notice is here unnecessary. Since 1857, various improve- .
men’s have been, made on the line of communication. proposed
led the route, and practised’ canoe men are indispensable in ~

47: v

w

by Mr. Dawson as far as the-‘Savanne Portage, which render .

" it the most desirable route to be pursued. A guide, however,

“would be absolutely necessary for any party wishing to travel
with expedition, as the beginning of the different portages are

by no means easily discovered L by those. who have not travel- if.
many of the rapids, the olternative involving a portage round .
them, which would greatly increase the time occupied i in mak.

ing the voyage. Assuming that canoes,- guides, and good.
canoe men could be proctired without delay at Fort William,

“according | to the number of the party, the question of provis-
jons is thé most serious item. Thero would be small chance
of any supplies being obtained on the route, and the exertion

required induces extraordinary appetites, which must’ to.a.
certain extent be satisfied or the severe labour involved can
not be “long endured. A pound and a half of pork anda

7 pound of flour per man per diem, with a plentiful supply of
tea is the least which would be required. A north canoe can oo

accommodate nine persons, and the voyage wo ve take twenty

-, days by the Winnipeg, and 450 Ibs.. of provisions wdalll bé

Smaller canoes carrying four or six persons aré more conve- .
nient than’ north canoes, but there would be always a difficulty’

in the present, state .of affiairs in procuring -‘canbes and men

required ag the minimunf it would be gafe to oe with,

for a large party, without’ steps were taken some weeks in.

advance of ‘the opening of. navigation.:
Mr. Dawson’s plan, it will be seen, contemplated a.complete
organization of boats, waggons and steamers, besides: the

daming of rivers, the | opening of roads, and the poablishiient

of provision\ stores on on the line of route. .

ae , won =
\: Os

oa \

—
ne

‘
\«

vv . ; oO . ' ee, : oe, 7

48.

' By opening the communication ‘in the: “way proposed . by ©
“Mr. Dawson,’ the total distance front Lake Superior to Red os
River Settlement, by land and water, would-be as follows : .
‘ Land carriago, Navigable”

/ ’ ' miles. miles.

From Thunder Bay to Dog Lake. te nletteerecees -. 28

Through Dog Lake and River to the Prairie Portage. 85°

Land road past Praigie and Savane, Portages to Sa- .
vanno River ween eet ee pee eee rene t ase neeeaees Be

Through’ Savanne River, Lac des Mille Lines andthe ,
River/Seine to the Little Falls .......00..4.. eet ee |)

ae Broken’ navigation on River. Seine . sees aa wees oT TBO

~~ Land carriage past the twelve portages on River Seine 7
From the Seine to.tho western extremity of Lac Plat,

-navigable with only one break at Fort Francis. 208
- _ Thénce to Fort Gasry by land....... reece beetens 91 .
/ Total 2... eeeeesaahecqeneeees secsveves 131R 88TH
““Waggons or carts would 'bé ‘required on the road between Thunder
/ Bay and Dog Lake.

“On Dog Lake and River, boats such’ as are used by the Hudson's 8
Bay Company, or éven a steamer might be employed. .
/ * At the Prairie Portage, carts or waggons would ‘be’ necessary. .
/. “On the Savanne River, Lac des Mille Lacs, and the River Seine as far
as the. Little Falls, after a dam fwas constructed at the last mentioned
place, there would be an unbroken reach of 65 miles, and on this section
“y a it would be advantageous to have a small steamer.
/ . ‘On the 59} miles of broken navigation, on the River Seiné, between
. the Little Falls and the Twelve Portages, boats should be used, while at
the land road past the twelve portages, carts or waggons, as on ‘the other |
-sections of road, would be necessary:
“From the River Seine to Fort Frances a steamer would have a clear

. vn

_ run of fifty miles.
ee “From Fort Frances to Lac Plat, steamers would have an uninter-
ee rupted run of 158 miles.
he From the latter place to Fort “Garry. no provision would have to be
mo made, as the means of transport are to be had i in abundance at the Red
River Settlement,"* - . .
an ;
* For-full particulars respecting the various routes from Lake Superior to
Red River, see the “ Reports of the Red River Expedition for 1857 and 1858."

.

’ . place daring the last few years-in the govern

‘yf

a

"49

In the present state of affairs it is not advisable for any

. party desirous of crossing the continent to the gold fields of

* British Columbia, to attempt 1 the Canoe Route. The road by
St. Paul is more expeditious, less expensive, and would admit ©
of the necessary supplies being procured without Joss of time,
and far cheaper than they could be conveyed in eanoes or’

obtained at ‘Red, River Settlement. : te

oc

om

PROJECT 0 OF ‘AS ROUTE "ACROSS THE CONTINENT EN.
TIRELY “THROUGH. BRITISH TERRITORY.

The region nofth of Lakes Huron and Superior has hither: .

* to. been the great. bugbear in the way of a land route across

British America. Soveral important - change have taken.
vont arrange-
ments for the exploration and colonization of this vast area
of country, which will ultimately lead to the establishment of
a great inland ‘line of communication, following in.the first in-y *
stance the Colonization Roads atrétching { from the ‘settled parts

"of Canada’ towards "Lake Nipissing, and. thende’ ito Sault St.:

Marie. In order to afford greater facilities for "those ¢ who are

_ disposed to také advantage of the vast mineral wealth of the-f3-
‘North Shores, the government, by an-order it Council, dated

March 15, 1860, adopted t the following. important Regulations : z
“That for mining purposes, tracts coiiprising not more than

: ee v
» “also the h Reports of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Expedition,” and ,

. “A Narrative of the C madian Red River Exploring Expedition of 1857, -and
.' Of the Assinniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition of 1838, ” by: the .
Author; Tongoien & & Gs London, 1860, -

us

sen

50 ;
four hundred acres each be granted to parties, applying for
the same, at the rate of one dollar per acre, ‘to be paid in full -
on the sale, the applicant furnishing a plan and description —
_of the locality to the Crown Lands Department,-and © ‘on con- \ —
dition that such’ mineral location be worked within o one year |
from the date of the grant. -
“The pdient to issue two years from date of sale; the fee
for permiasign-to-explore is abolished, and the locations are to
“be sold to the first applicant agreeing” to the conditions. ots
~ These ‘regulatioris do not apply to ‘mines “of gold or silver.’”
"It is also proposed to ‘block out into Townships the whole
of the mining region on Lakes Huron and Superior, opening
_ well the exteriur lines’ of the townships. ‘The facilities for
exploration will no doubt induce great additional efforts to de-
velope the mineral wealth of that ‘country, and the opening of
a road at the rear of the townships will be the commence-
ment of a great line of communication connecting.the wholé >
‘ of the north ‘shores of these inland seas with the’ Colo-
nization “Roads between the Ottawa and’ Lake Huron. A:
surveying party. has, already been for more than a year en-'
- gaged i in exploring and surveying the shores of. Lake Supe-
“rior and the country in the rear, to the depth of about twenty '
five miles. The Colonization Roads are rapidly penetrating |
' ‘the wilderness, and: one of them, the Babéaygeon Road, al-
ready extends to Lake Nipissing, and the tract through
“ which it passes is found to contain much good-land ‘fit for-—
' settlement... The great Northern Road, extending from | Gou-
lais’ Bay, cen Si River, ver, is already | located and !
_, part of it constructed. . The oinpletion will provide a means

tf

v

e a

| 51
}

_ for both winter and summer communication by Jand between

the eastern portions of Canada and ‘the rapidly ‘advancing

- settlements around.the Sault.St. Murie. The price of lands

within the limits of the territory of the Free Port at Sault

St. Marie, has been reduced to 20 cents an acre, a step which

-will probably induce a large influx of ‘emigrants adapted to

_ the industry of mines, forests, and fisheries.

The difference between the American side of Superior and
+ __ the north-o¥ Canadian ‘side, i is. remarkably. shown in the fole . 2...
lowing tables, although the opinion is general among “ pros- =

pectors” that the mineral wealth on. the north side..is very ,

great, and the geological survey, which was.confined tothe
coast and Prineipal rivers, indicates an extensive metaliferous ~”.
area. :
In the ‘Spring of 1860 the. white population on the north Pa
Shore of Like Superior, exclusive of the Hudson Bay’s Com-

' pany’s Posts, was nine; at the same time that of the Ameri-

_ can Wide was 19,695. . The Canadian vessels engaged in trade

‘were tio steamers and ‘two schooners. On the American . 4,

steamers andl’ ‘steam-ferry-boats“ont” Patino Lake, four s steam ,
a “tags between White Fish Pond and Detour Channel, upwards

‘of one hundred first-class schooners, and tyo reverue cutters. .

‘The trade through the Sault Ste. Marie Canat amounted in | -~

1859 to— . oe
Exports’ from ‘Lake Superior... .-+. $3,071,069
Imports, EC. seceanees peveneeee deeeceoes feseoee 5,228,640
of Passengers...caeseessees itug sevens eeeseese 11,548, .

: At
. . pew mo 4 ‘ . . .

=
|

" ih. ss ;
he American mines are not on the coast, ‘the nearest being’
2} miles distant, the greater number 12 to 14 miles’ from’the-~’
waters of the lake. The “ancient mines of Lake Superior”.

. have been found on the north shore, at Mamanise and .on the: i
Island of St. Ignace. On the American side, deep and nar- 7
row depressions, ‘the ‘remains of the works of the ancient mi-.

"ners are nvimerous, and vast numbers of native green-stone
hammers, from 5 pounds to 39 pounds in weight, are con-.
stantly dug up in these depressions, besides copper chisels,

~ sleepers “of “oak, -charcoal;- spear-heads-and- knives of- copper... ...
On the Canadian shore of Lake Huron, the success of the
proprietors of the Wellington Mine is very encouraging. The-~~
dividend for 1859’ being £6,850, the capital invested £20, 000.
The new regulations established by the Canadian government
in relation to minin g locations throughout this extensive region,
is already attracting the attention of Americans, and rapid
settlement of several’ very promising locations is more than
‘probable. During the season of navigation the facilities for
reaching any port of Lake Superior by steamer are such that
a vessel from Liverpool, of a capacity fitted to go through
the locks of the Welland Canal may discharge _ her.cargo at ~-
Fort William or any port on this vast inland sea without
breaking bulk.. Hence, for a summer communication, say
from May to November, the starting point of the Overland
Route would be Fort William or some other port on Lake
Superior. : -

} ' The next step in the overland communication through | Brit-_
- ish Amerjen is from Lake Superior to the Settlements on

The water partin is not. more than 590 feet

. . ‘ ‘ a . a

oe - 6B . _ Nps
Valuable trees, as far as the-Lake of the Woods, There does,
* not exist any difficulty in the construction of a road ‘between . —
: Thunder Bay and the most easterly indent.of Rainy, Lake, a
distance of 200 miles. Between Rainy Lake and the north-
west atigle of the Lake of the Woods the country in the rear~
of Rainy: River, a distance of 120 miles, is unexplored, ‘and ~
"its facilities fox|a direct. land communication unknown. From
the north-west -corner to Fort: Garry, 90 miles, js a level .
country 1 which has already been travelled with horses, although. oe
_ the swamps near Lac Plat are farmidablo. ‘The third step is. — -
the e_ valley ‘of the Saskatchewan, which ‘even in its present
: state is constantly traversed’ with horses and carts from Red
“River to the Rocky Mountains, and contuins not Jess_than”
“FORTY. MILLION acres-of excellent -agricaltural goil, which { form’
a vast Furticd Bevtfrom the Lake of the: Woods.to the © __--
Rocky Mountains. _ Hoo, i

t

, THE FERTILE, BELT-IN THE “VALLEY OF THE
, SASKATCHAWAN. . 7

, he basin: -of Lake ; “Winnipeg: extends over twenty-eight ~~ a

. degrees of longitude atid ten degrees of latitude, The éleva-
tion of its eastern ‘boundary. at the Prairie-Portage, 104 miles.
west of Lake Superior; i8~ 1,480 | feet above the sea, and the . “
height. of land at thé’ Vermillion Pass is less then 5,000 feet -
above the same level. The mean length ‘of this great inland ,
basin is about 920 ‘English miles, and its mean breadth 850 : .

’. miles, hence its’ area is approximately 360, v00 Bquare miles, ‘
‘or a little more than that of Canada.

- 64
Lake Winnipeg, abn altitude of 628 feet above the sea,

occupies the lowest: depression of this great inland<basin,
covering with its associated Lakes Manitobah, Winnepego-

_ sis, Dauphin, and St. Martin, an area slightly exceeding

13,000 square miles, or nearly half as: ‘much of the earth’s
surface as is occupied by Ireland. - - ‘

e

The outlet of. Lake. ‘Winnepeg’ is. through-the- contracted vows

and rocky channel of: ‘Nelson River, which flows into Hud-.
son’s Bay.

The country possessing a 1 mean elevation, of one, ‘hundred
feet above lake*Winnipeg is very closely represented by t the -
outline of Pembina Mountain, forthing part of the eastern”

limit of the Cretacedus Series in the north-west of America. & A

‘The'atea occupied by this low country, which includes Be
large part of the valley of Red. River, :the Assiniboine, and Ne
the main Saskatchewan, may be estimated Jat 70,000 ‘square —
miles, of which nine-tenths are lake¥, “marsh, or surface rock

-of. Silurian or Devonian age, and generally: so thinly covered

with soil as to be unfit for cultivation, except in small isolated:
areas. ’ ff

.
gt’

Succeeding this low region there are the narrow terfinges Oe

‘the Pembina Mountain, which rise in abrupt steps, except a
‘the valleys of the Assiniboine, Valley River, Swan “River,!,:

\
and Red-Déer’s River, to the level of a higher plateau, whose ©

eastern limit is’ formed by the precipitous escarpments. a

of the Riding, Duck, and Porcupine Mountains, with the de-.

‘ “tached outliers, Turtle, Thunder, and Pasquia Mountains,

This is the great Prarie ‘PLATEAU. of Rupert’ 8 Land ; at # =

’ "toe

e-
“

>

_ area’of the Prairie Plateau, in the” ‘past of Lake Winnipeg, ’
"js. about 120,000 square miles; it possesses a mean elev ation
. of 1,100 feet above the sea. : .

‘ . . .

65 ‘f

“bounded” towards the south-west: and . west, by the “Grand

Coteau de Missouri and the extension of the table Jand be- .

“tween the two branches of the Saskatchewan, which forms

the eastern limits of the Puatns of the north-west. --The

“The ‘plains rise’ gently: as the Rocky. Mountains « are re aps
proached, and at their western limit have an altitude of 4000 .
feet above the sea level. With only @ very narrow belt of 2
intervening country, the mountains ‘rise abruptly from the :
plains, and present lofty precipices that frown like. battle--
ments over the level country to the eastward.* The average. .
altitude.of the highest part of the Rocky Mountains is 12,000
(about lat. 51°) feet. The forest extends to the altitude of
7000 feet, or 2009 feet above the lowest pass.

The “Frrtice Bexr” of arable soil, partly the form of.
rich, open prairie, partly covered with groves of aspen, which
' stretches from the Lake of the Woods to the foot of the Rocky
. Mountains, and is coloured yellow on thé accompanying map,

_ averages 80 to 100 miles in breadth. The North Saskatche-

"Wan ‘flows ‘through the Fertile Belt, in ‘2 valley varying from °-

one-fourth. of a “mile to one mile | in. _ breadth, and? excavated

to the depth of” 200 to 300 feet below the level of the prairie

~

or plains, until it .reaches the low country some miles east of
Fort a laCorne. The area of this: extraordinary, belt of rich
soil and pasturage is about forty millions acres... It was for- .
Wo

* Dr. James Hector on the Physical’ features of ths" central i part of rth
- North America. . Edin, Nat, Phil. Journal.

\ ‘ \ . : rae

merly a wooded country, but by successive fires it ‘has’ been
partially cleared of its forest’ growth, but abcunds with the

most luxuriant herbage and generally possesses a deep and

rich soil of vegetable mould. ““‘ This region in winter is not
more severe than that experienced in Canada, and in the west-
ern districts, which are removed from the influence of the

Great Lakes, the spring commences about a month earlier _
~ than on theshores of Lake™ Superior, which ig five degrees of ~

latitude further to t1e south.- * * * -* The depth of
snow is never excessive, while in the richest tracts the natu-
ral pasture is so abundant, that horses and cattle may be deft

to obtain their own’ 1 food during the greater part of the win-
ter.”*

The Fertile Belt- of the Saskatchewan. Valley does not
derive its importance from .the bare fact’ that it contains
64,000 square miles of ' country available for agricultural
purposes in one continuous strip 800 miles long and. on an
average 80 broad, stretching across the continent; it is rather
‘by contrast with an immense sUB-ARCTIC area to the north and
DESERT area to the south that this favoured. “Edge of the
Woods” country-acquires political and commercial importance:
A broad agricultural region, capable of sustaining many mil-_
lions of people and abundantly supplied with iron ore and an
- inferior variety of coal, and spanning the eight: hundred miles
which separate Luke Winnipeg from the Rocky Mountains, -
more than compensates for the rocky character of the timbered ~
desert, between the Lake of the Woods and Lake Superior.

* Dr. ‘Fames Hector on the Capabilities for Settlement of the Centrah part
' of British North America, : a .

4
7 a
Le
pee

~ tivable not only from aridity of climate: but from sterility of .

\

‘\

57°. 7

. Capt. Palliser thus describes ie Fertil Belt :—“Itis now a -

partially wooded country, abounding in lakes and rich natu-
ral pasturage, in some parts rivalling the finest park scenery

of our own country.’ Throughout this Yegion of country the —
climate seems to preserve the same character, although it”
passes through very differ, ides, its form’ being doubt-"

less- determined--by- the- curves-of: #he--isothermal-line.---Its -

superficial ,extent embraces about 65;000 square miles, of
which more\than one-third might be’ considered as’ at once
available for\the purposes of the ariseait\ ho “ Great
American Desert,” which stretches from the south branch of
the Saskatchewan to the Gulf of Mexico, is altogether uncul-

soil. ‘ - :

The physical geography of the arid region in the, United |

States has been very admirably described by Dr.’. Joseph.

Henry.*

* Meteorology in its connection with Agriculture, by Professor Joseph

' Henry, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute.

“The general character of the soil between the Mississippi River and the-.

Atlantic is that of great fertility, and as a whole, in. its natural condition,
with some exceptions ‘at the west, is well supplied with timber. The portion

also on the western side of the Mississippi, as far as the 98th meridian, inclu- ~

ding the States of Texas, Loisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota,
and portions of the territory of Kansas and Nebraska, are fertile, thouch
aboun‘‘ing in prairies, and subject occasionally to droughts, But the whole

space to the west, between the 98th meridian and the Rocky Mountains, de- -

nominated the Great American Plains, is a barren. waste, over which the eye.
‘may roam to the ‘extent of the visible horizon with scarcely an object to’

‘break the monotony.

. “From the Rocky Mountaind td the Pacific, with the exception of the rich _

but narrow belt ‘along the ocean. the country may also be considered, in com-

“parison with ‘other portions of the United States, a wilderness unfitted for.

"the uses of the husbandman; although in some of the mountain valleys, a4 st ~

D

ae,

Ap,

. 58 . : . »

' Major Emery, of the United States and Mexico Boundary -
_ Commission, says :— . . ; 7
“The term, ‘plains’ is applied to the extensive inclined surface reach-

ing from the base of the Rocky. Mountains to the shores of the Gulf of

. Mexico and the valley of the Mississippi, and from a feature in the geo-

‘graphy of the western country as notable as any other. Except on the

: borders of the streams which traverse the plains in their course to the
‘ valley of the Mississippi, scarcely anything exists deserving the name of

vegetation. The soil is composed of disintegrated rocks, covered. by a

loam an inch or two in thickness, which is composed of the exuvim of
“animals and decayed vegetable matter. ;

“The growth on them is principally a short but nutritious grass,
called buffalo grass (Sysleria dyctaloides). A narrow strip of allyvial

'. soil, supporting a coarse grass and few cotton-wood trees, marks the ,

’ ‘line of the water-courses, which are themselves sufficiently few and far

f

f

-between. . .
““Whatever may be said to the contrary, these plains west of the

100th ‘meridian are wholly unsusceptible of sustaining an agricultural

population, until you reach sufficiently far south to-encounter the rains

‘from the tropics.” '

a

Salt Lake, by means of irrigation, a precarious supply of food may be ob, -<=

tained sufficient to sustain a considerable population, provided they can be
sinduced to submit.to privations from. which American citizens generally
would shrink, The portions of the mountain system further south are

equally inhospitable, though they have been represented-to be of o different -

character, In traversing this region, whole days,are frequently passed with-
out meeting ‘s rivulet or spring of water to slake the thirst of the weary
traveller.” . . .

““We have stated that the entire region west of the 98th degree of west

©

’

jJangitude, with the exception of a small portion of western Texas and the - -

narrow border along the Pacific, is a country of comparatively little yalue'to,
the agriculturist ; and, perhaps, it will astovish the reader if we direct his at

tention to the fact that this line, which passes southward from Lake Winne-
peg to the Gulf of Mexico, will divide the whole surface of the United States
into two nearly equal parts. This statement, when fully ‘appreciated, ‘will
serve to dissipate some dreams which have been considered as realities‘as to
‘the destiny of the western part of the North American continent. Truth,
however, transcends even the Iaudable feelings of pride of country ; and, in
order properly to direct the policy of this great confederacy, it is necessary
to be well acquainted with the theatre on which its future history is to be en-
acted and by whose character it will mainly be shaped.” Tes

vot ae oe Ls ote,

mee Loe : . Soa as

:

1

wa

oe

a) ‘

‘The opinion of Mons. Bourgeau, who Was appointed by Sir
William Hooker to accompany Capt. Palliser’s expedition as
Botanist, is of the highest value: it assigns to the prairies of
the Saskatchewan their proper agricaltural. position without .
reference to political advantages or the all absorbing gold re-

~ gion of British: Columbia. x
-.. + £MEMOBANDUM BY MR. BOURGEAU..
nhc Ceubaie ‘thé “following” yemarks on the ‘advantages for
, agricultural settlement i in Rupert’s Land and the Saskatche-
* Wan prairies of British orth America, having been appointed
‘by Sir Williant Hooker to accompany Captain Palliser’ ‘3 Ex-
_- pedition as botanist. -

“T had especially to collect the plants that grew’ naturally
An the country traversed by the Expedition, and: also their
‘seeds.. Besides my “botanical ‘collection, Dr. Hooker advised
“me to make thermometrical observations at the various sta-

“*, tions, and, above all things, to take the temperature of the
2 earth at certain depths, as well’ as that of the interidr of forest .
‘ trees ; also. to notice the richness and poverty of the vegeta-
tion of the” ‘country, and the maladies to which ~plants. are
exposed: * "In the second letter and notes ‘addressed to ‘Sir--—
William Hdoker, which have already been published, * I have
treated these questions with all the.care that was permitted -
to me by. observations taken in the midst of the harassment
and fatigue ofa long journey, but it remairis for me to call
“attention to the advantages there. would be i in establishing
agricultural settlements i in the. vast’ plains of Rupert's Land,

‘ * Lia, Soo. Proceedings, 1859.

nemgem eyo

GO

and particularly on the Saskatchewan in the-neighbourhood
’ of. Fort Carlton. This district is much more adapted to the -..
culture of staple crops of temperate climates—such as wheat, 7
rye, barley, oats, &c.—than one would have been inclined to:

believe from its high Jatitude. In effect, the few attempts at

‘ the culture of cereals already made in the vicinity of, the
Hudson's Bay Company's trading posts, demonstrate by their -
_suecess how ‘easy it would .be. to ; obtain- products sufficiently - ~~

abundant largely to remunerate the efforts of the agriculturist.
There, in order to put the land under cultivation, it would be
necessary only ‘to till the better portions of the soil.. The

" prairies offer natural pasturage as favourable for the mainteu-

ance ‘of numerous herds as if they had been artificially

_ereated. The construction of houses for habitations by the
pioneers in the development of the country would be easy, |

because in many parts of the country, independent of wood,

one would find fitting stones for building purposes; and in’
others it would be easy to find clay for bricks, more particu- |
larly near Battle River. The other parts most favourable for —

culture would be in the neighbourhood of Fort Edmonton, and

‘also along the south side of the North Saskatchewan. . In the

latter district extend rich and vast prairies, interspersed with
woods and forests, and where thick wood plants furnish excel-
lent pasturage for domestic animals. The vetches found here,
of which the principal are Vicia, Hedysarum, Lathyrus, and

Astragalus, are as fitting for the nourishment of cattle as the,
- clover of European pasturage. The abundance of buffalo,

and the facility with which the herds of horses and oxen in-
crease, demonstrate that, it would be enough to shelteranimals

i
”

1

en :) | ;

in winter,-and to feed them in the shelters with hay collected
in advance, in order to avoid the mortality that would result”

from cold and from the attacks of wild beasts, and further to
- permit the acclimatising of other domestic farmyard animuls,

such as the sheep and pig. The harvest could in general D
commenced by the end of August, or the first week in Sep-~
tember, which is a season when the temperature continues
sufficiently. high and rain is rare. _ In the. gardens of. the.Hud.-. .-.. —-—-
son’s Bay*Company’s Posts, and still more in those of the
’ different Missions, vegetables of the leguminous family, such

as beans;’peas, and French beans, have been successfully cul-
tivated; also potatoes, cabbages, turnips, carrots, rhubarb, ;
and currants. No fruit tree has as yet been introduced ; but
one might perhaps, under favorable circumstances, try nut- i"
trees, also apple-trees belonging to varieties that ripen early.
Different species of gooseberries, with edible fruits, grow wild
here ; also different kinds of Vacciniace are equally indige-
nous, and have pleasant fruits that will serve for the prepara-
tion of preserves and confectionary. The Aronia ovalis. —
(Amelanchier canadensis must be meant) is very common in. }.
' this country ; and its fruit, commonly known as the Poire, or
service-berry, is ¢ driéd and eaten by the Indians, who collect

it with great care j and it also serves for the purpose of ma-

king excellent. pudding, recalling the taste of dried’ currants.

The only difficulty that would oppose agricultural settlements

‘is the immense distance to traverse over countries devoid of
‘roads, and almost uninhabited. The assistance of government

or of a well-organised company, would be indispensable to the
- colonization of this country. It would be important that
- 2 ; ;

wk

7 . 62°

4

householders, for protection against the’incursions.of the In-
dians, who.are, however, far from being hostile to Earopeans.
It stands to reason, that the colonists ought to be taken from

the north of Europe or-from mountain districts, being those
accustomed to the climatological conditions and culture of the.

soil most resembling this interesting country, to the resources

of which I call attention. The produce of agricultural séttle- _

“nents thus established would yield subsistence to the Indians, ©

whose resources. for food, supplied only by hunting, tend’ to
diminish every day. The presence of European-settlers would

‘form a useful model for this primitive people, who, notwith-

standing their native apathy, still appreciate the benefits: of
Civilization.”® = ; 7
, (Signed) EB. Bourerav.”

Dr. Hector says of the Fertile Belt :-— rr ae
. “The most valuable feature of this belt of-country,which also strotchés .

from Touchwood Hills, Carlton, and Fort Pittgouth of Fort’ Edmonton

‘to the old Bow Fort at the Rocky Mountains, isthe inimense extent it

"Edmonton."

affords of what I shall term winter pasturage, —_
“This winter pasturage consists of tracts of country partially wooded

“ey

-with poplar and willow clumps and bearing a most_lyxuriant growth of
vetches and luxuriant grasses. The clumps of wood afford shelter to °

animals, while the scrubby brush kéeps the snow in.such a loose state
that they find no difficulty. in feeding} the large tracts of swampy

‘country, when frozen, also form admirable feeding grounds ; and it, is

only towards spring, in very severe winters, that: cattle and horses can-
not be left to.féed in well-chosen ‘localities throughout this region of

~ country. * .

_ “Phe proportion: of arable lind is also very considerable, and even

“fate in dutumn, which.is the driest’ period .of the year, and when the
askatchéwan for some weeks is. fordable at Edmonton, there seems to ~

be no want of water in the form of spiall streams and lakes. ‘In’ spring
I found the snow deeper’ in the neighbourhood. of Fort Pitt ‘than at
eo ONT, ' en wo,

. Loo a. - ,

settlements should be established in groups of at least fifty

~

oo ’ * 63° -

‘Very incorrect ideas have been formed respecting the fit.

ness of the prairies of the Fertile Belt for the immediate

construction of. a railway, 48 merely involving the laying of °
rails and ‘the bridging of rivers. The really level prairies '

cease_aftér passing Prairie Portage-on the Assiniboine, 90
miles from Fort Garry. The country then becomes undula-
ting and often intersected by deep gullies or ravines, forming

the_narrow yalleys_in which. rivers. and. brooks flow from

Nien to 300 feet below the prairie level. These physical pecu-

fo

on

.

iarities present formidable obstacles in a pecuniary point of

view to the construction of a railroad where timber for con: _
structive purposes is scarce, and building material of any des- .
éription not easily accessible west of the great lakes.

A post road as-a preliminary to.a railway could be estab-
lished without difficulty or considerable expense. Indeed
‘there are only two or three points which would require more
than the labour of a few men between Red River and Carl-

‘ton, But it would be necessary to have a ferry on some of
"the rivers, and particularly on thé Qu’Appelle, and one on the

South Branch of the Saskatchewan. .
It would not be doing justice to the noble river. which drains
the Fertile Belt if no allusion were: ‘made to its fitness for

. Steam navigation. This has heen generally assymed to be the
; case, but without sufficient groundg;

. THE SASKATCHEWAN ‘ROUTE.
‘Te ts sometimes: recommended by pérsons who have not ex-
-périenced the difficulties of the route, that Lake Winnipeg and.

the Saskatchewan afford.an easy means of traversing & Tenge

\

64° ‘ oe

part of the country bétween Red River and the Rocky Moun- ,

tains. There can be,no doubt whatéver-that if a party were

a coming FROM Britisu, CotuMBIA To CANADA THE Sourn

im ‘BRANCH OF THE SadkaTCHEWAN, THE ;QuU’APPELLE, AND

‘i THE ASSINIBOINE WOULD OFFER A MOST DESIRABLE AND
‘ .: FAQILE ROUTE, but going west against the current, the jour-
"ney is tedious, harrassing, and fatiguing. The boats. which

- long experience has proved-to be the best adapted for'the navi- _

“gation of therivers of the North-west, are very strongly built,
- but: they § are subjected to severe strains and much rough) usage
in crossing the portages. A buat for the voyage through
_ Lake Winnipeg and up the North or South Branch of the
_ |. ‘Saskatchewan, need not be nearly so heavy as the Hudson
- "Bay. Company’s barges, and if provided with a slip keel, great

a '” progress might-frequently be made by-sailing in the lake and -

‘up many. r ches of the Saskatchewan. ‘With the present

"kind of b -uge the whole ascent of this. great and rapid |

jection holds good with regard to the South Branch, the cur-

“rent is very swift, from 2} to°6 miles an hour,’ so that the '
ascent of either branch in boats or canoes, without the aid-of .
’ gteam-power, is not to be recommended to any party desirous: |

of reaching the Rocky Mountains in one season. The obsta-
ve cles which are encountered in the way of rapids, portages,

_ shallows and mud banks, will now be described in considering,
the capabilities of the Saskatchewan for steamboat communi- -

oes : cation, ths a tee etl

1a

river involves much: labour and. Fatigue. The current is so.
swift, as its name implies,. that the. voyageurs are compelled to »
_ track wherever there is footing on the hanks. The-same ob-

a

From éne of the mouths of Red River, where there is 18
feet of water in the channel; and from 4 to 6 feet on the bar,
‘there is no obstacle to a continuous navigation for a steamer
as far as the Grand Rapids at the mouth of the Saskatchewan.

- VA steamer drawing, when light 18 inches of water might, it
is thought by many, | be’ warped up the.Grand Rapid with the
assistance of the power it. could supply, but-in all cages.it

would. be-necessary, until a-canal_about three:miles-long, with-- -—~----

four locks of 12’ feet lift were constructed, to have a tramway
round this formidable impediment.* There are two other rap-
ids, four and five miles respectively, above the’ Grand Rapid.
The length of the first is one mile—-it is a long and gradual
- slope, with a fall of 74 feet, anda broad channel of deep
water in the middle. Loaded boats of 4 or 5 tons are tracked
‘up.this without difficulty. “The next rapid is 10 chains long,
with o fall of 24 feet. These. rapids: would not present any
difficulty to a steamer. All the impediments. above the
Grand Rapids might be avoided by taking the- route
through. the little Saskatchewan and St. Martin’s Lake to
Lake. Manitobah, thence through Water-Hen River and Win-
nipegoosis Lake to the- Mossy Portage,t which.is four miles |
in length. Lake Winnipegoois is only four feet above Cedar

* The Grand Rapid, four mileg from the mouth of the Saskatchewan, is 2
miles and 66 chains Yong. . The total fall is 44 fect. The Hudson Bay. Com. °
pany’s boats-run this rapid. with full’cargo. “In ascending they-are tracked |
from the foot of the rapid to the gest end of,the portage with half.cargo, they
are then rin back again empty, aid again tracked up with the ot! her half,
From thé east to the wedt on of the portage, boats are traced up vid the south ’ ~
side of the rapid with ‘a load of 1, 7300 Ibs, The remainder of the load i is
Benerally carried over the por'

‘t For ¢ a description of this rie sad Mr, Dawson's Report for 1988,"
wo. wy

a ° “et “o,f

. ot - . t ons oa 7
4 _—

")

7 ce
" Lake, through inlands. - The Saskatchewan flows at this-point
_Yestward ‘to Thobon’s Rapids, 180° miles from Cedar Lake.

There is no impediment. to a steamer drawing two. feet water |

beyond mud banks and shallows, which cant always: be. avoided ;

by: a‘good pilot, | ;
“Captain Blakiston, who’ wenbmp thy ‘Saskatchewan i in 1857,

‘at a period of low water, states that: Thobon’ s Rapid is Ger.

___ tainly not navigable fora. steamer in dow, ‘water, and:he doubts - :- ~-
_ whether it would be when the-river is high, “ but the, differ-.

- ence “caused by. the state.of the water ini a rapid. ig so great
"that it is hardly safe to give an opinion.” It.‘will’ be borne
_*in mind that powerful steamers can be constructed to ‘draw, -
when loaded, no more than two feet of water, .it. ig therefore ,
very, probable: that this rapid would: not present any serious -
. impediment even at low water whick- might not be renioved. at
small expense, or avoided by the construction of a wing.
rom.’ Thobon’ 3 Rapids’ to the Grand Forks there is no ~
‘impediment whatever which’ a good pilot might not avoid. -
_ The “ Coal Falls,” on the North Branch, aré formidable, and
ouldrequire to be cleared of some inimense boulders which
obstruct the passage. °The current is from 5 to 7 miles an
hour, and the channel in its present condition very intricate;
_ and in low water probably unnavigable. Captain Blakiston
exprésses his ‘opinion. respecting the navigation of the Sas- _
' katchewan above the Coal Falls in the ‘following terms.. ,
“ From, thé-liead of these rapids the bed of tlie river’is.
filled with batteurs : or sand bars as far as the mouth of Ver-
nillion Creek; about 25 miles above Fort Pitt, after which the
‘Hotton is usually’ of ca strong natite; whidk ‘eontinues to:Fort

‘

_, 87
" Bamontoss* gdnie distance Helow which there are shall rapids —
wie ‘and shoal places in the full of the year. Of the distance to
“which a.steamer would ascend in high water I cgh. give-no .
'. positive information, but I should suppose that’ one adapted
. for that kind of navigation might. possibly reach Fort: Edmén-
ton, but in low water little could be accomplished i in most
“parts.” ; a

- -»--The South Branch, about. 150-miles-from its junetion. with ~~...

the North Branch, is much- obstructed with shoals and sand
‘bars, but in descending it from the Elbow in August, 185s, I~. -
found then no impediments which would obstruct the passage | -”
of a steamer of shallow draft.. The same remark.may in all
probability be applied to this branch as far as the mouth of: ey).
Red Deer River. - bo
When travelling from the Rocky Mountains to Red River . en
the North and South Branches of the Saskatchewan will: be a
. most advantageously used. .A boat or cance can drift: down; ya
these swift, currents.at the rate of 50 or 60 miles during.» > -
long summer day, and the voyage from ‘the Old-Bow:Fort 6 .
might be made with great rapidity and ease down Bow River -- °°.
and the South. Saskatchewan to thie Elbow or mouth of, the
* River'that Turns,” A portage of twelve miles involving an
_ascent of 80 feet.would then have to be made to the sources
of the Qu’Appelle, down which stream the traveller can float .
' to the Agsini¥oine at Fort Bllice, and thence to the- Red
River Settlements, - Indians’ and Half-breeds not unfrequent- |
oly make long journeys down the South Branch in canoes made .
.from buffalo hides, which'are called “ Bull-boats; " Thave no . .
doubt that the distance between Old ‘Boy Fort and. Fort nt Garry, <

-?

.

68 7 . H a “3 .

about’ 900 miles, might be accomplished in 20 days in a amall -

canoe or skiff, via the South Branch, Qu’ Appelle, and Assini-

boine, except daring a very dry season:

. "

AL ‘SKETCH, oF THE GEOLOGY OF THE ROCKY”
waesee MOUNTAINS* ©

The Rocky Mountains rise suddenly from the erent prairie
' plains of the Saskatchewan Valley. These sometimes present

cliffs 2,000 to 3,000. feet in. height. They are formed of...
_.o-~ ~ broken folds-or plications of ‘ strata, and are disposed in par-
allel groups, the great valleys ‘in the length of the chain ©

Gccupying fractures or huge cracks in ‘the summit Of the folds.-
Thesé wide valleys are more or Je&s connected’ by deep narrow
defiles; 80 that-the river flowing through the valley cither north
or south makes short breaks through the connecting defiles, to.
the east-or west, and ‘the | qgurses. of the rivers in the moun-

.tains are consequently zig-zag. ° Ploeeeding westward from -
"Bow Fort the first range of mountains is -composed of car: .

- boniferous strata, so also is the second range, the valley,
between them being occupied by mesozoic strata. The valley
. between the second and third range ‘shows rocks of Devonian

"age, while the central range. consists of qitatzites and conglo-_

merates, probably Silurian, ‘which rests on Talcose Slates .

-Wwith--QuaRTz VEINS... _ The “ ‘occurrence -of quartz véins is.

, ‘important, as will be shown hereafter. do crossing the moun-

we 2é te

_* # The reader is referred to No, 68 of tlie Quarterly Journal 0 “of the’ Giologi
eal Society fof a description of the geology: of: thie Rocky Mountains in British

America, by Dr. Hector, . The'sketch in'the text is a’ summary of ‘part of Dr.
_ Héetor’s paper. Ce : :

yee
»

is, 6 Paddler: Lakes, Gi mite, ;
‘ely, \ The earboniferbls rocks consist | of thick bedded limestones’ yh

69° -

_tains from Bow River the traveller passes successively over

the upturned edges of the great fossiliferous central basin of’

‘ North Anjerica, and the rocks occur in correct sequence from

the first range to the central. ;
The section along ‘the.North “Saskatchewan - within the Ww

mountains shows the following sequence of rocks :—

1." Brazeau Range, Mesozaie strata resting on ' Carboniferous.

2: Sheep River,

3.- First range of mountains, Carboniferous, much folded, and followed
by-Devénian- rocks-on- -west- flank. mor cnet rene wa ie meee pncne aes mee 2 oe a mene ee pe

.

“4, Valley, Mesozoic strata.) ~ : ° -
5. ‘Second range, Carboniferous resting” on Devonian, and ‘the Devonian’
_ on Silurian. 5, - a

.

Section on the west slope of the mountains,

1. Height pf land, Carboniferous strata. °

2. Bldpberry Pass, Carboniferous resting on Silurian. ®.

8. Colambia Valley, east side, Carboniferous resting on highly tilted
Schists. ~ :

' 4. West side of Cohimbia Valley, Schists. = eo

. 5. Kootanie Mountains, Schists, ' ao ¢

t

of oe dark and light.. blue colour, crystalline, compact, . or-

cherty. They, are associated with ‘beds of gritty,’ sandy hale

_ Benerally” ofg. dull red or’ ‘purple: ‘colour.
-In the vaey of Vermillion River, and also of - Blaoberry
_ Hivos talcose shales occur, forming ‘the floor of the valley.
- The Columbia Valley, known: to be auriferous, is ex¢avated i in
" these shales. ama _ ary are
| TERRACES IN. THE MOUNTAINS. ; aS. :
At, the distance of 90\miles from ‘the: Rocky Mountains ‘the’

_ valleys : of the i river flowing: to ‘the east commence to exhibit.

: : , 70 . 5° me
aa

terraces composed of rounded ‘fragments of quartzite and
limestone, such as would form the rounded ‘shingle on rocky.

shore. On approaching the mountains the terrace deposits .

spread out, and at last cover the whole country along the base
of the mountains, filling up, the hollows. and ‘valleys’ to the-
depth of several hundred, feet. Lye

In the mountains the terraces on the North Saskatchewan

are remarkably developed, so also on Bow River and on-the ©
Athabasca River. If the drift.of this valley should prove.to__...

~ be auriferous, as is stated, ‘the base of the Sand-Dunes’ might

be prospected for fine gold with-favourable chances of success.
The terruces of the western slope are very important. © It
is from these great natural auriferous deposits that the preci-

-ous metal will be procured in the greatest abundan¢e at the

commencement of mining: operations in the country. They
occur in the lower part of the Vermillion River,:where they
are formed of the same glistening white calcareous mud, that
is found in the valley, of. the North Saskatchewan:

. In the wide valleys of the Kootanie and: the Cohimbia rive.
‘ers ‘these. terraces are best, developed on the Rocky Mountains,

The examination ‘of. the base of. these: terrates, and in

. localities similar to those’ indicated on-the néxt’ page, should be:
”

prosecuted carefully in search for thé precious metal. The’

_. importance’ of the terraces } 38' old fields may be inferred
_ from the. following extract‘from. Dr. Hector's paper ;— _

“TERRACES IN TFORNIA. —Before leaving t these shingle-deposits,
which are so largely distributed ‘throughout the .mountain-valleys ‘of

‘British North America, I may mention that’ in-California I found these

_ , terraces ranging on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, at least to
the height of, 8,000 feet, and there’ mer. are erextensivelyy worked iby: the

vf

we

. 7 ~
hydraulic method for the sake of the gold they contain. At Nevada

-City, and also on the Yuba River, I saw deposits of this shingle-conglo-
‘merate, 200 and 300. feet in thickness, actually being washed. off from

the face of the country by this powerful means, which consists in deli¥- .
ering water under great pressure against the face of the cliff, from nozzleg

_ like those of a fire engine. The supply of, water for this purpoge is in

the hands of companies separate from those that conduct the mining, as
it is ofteiY broiight through tunnels and over high-level ‘aqueduct’ from
remote and uninhabited regions. The particles of gold are disseminated
throughout the whole deposit, but the richest washings are from its base,
where a,’pink pipe-clay, technically known as “‘ pay-dirt,” ‘res¢S on the
“bed-rock.” The whole water, with :the material washed‘ont of the -

cliff, is directed through long troughs ‘called “flumes;” whicli ‘are con- |
“structed of wood, like mill-leads, often cotitinuously for six or seven*”

miles, .The large stones are thi§wn-out, as they pass, by men ‘with ©
shovels, to save the wear on the bottom of the “ flume,” while the finer.
material is carried on by the rush of water, and passes over frequent
cross bars called ‘‘ripples,” where a little mercury is placed td-entiap
the gold by amalgamation. At Nevada City, where the coating of shingle

’ deposit has thus been cleared from the surface of the coarse-grained and

soft granite which underlies it, gigantic masses were exposed on what
had once’been the rugged shore of an inlet, just as may be seen on a
Waterworn coast of the same material at the present day. In California
fragments of wood are found throughout the shinglé in‘ abundance, often
carbonized, but in general silicified into a substance exactly resembling |
asbestos. In the sand and conglomerate of the Kootanie Valley I found |

. fragments of wood of similar appearance. ~~

“As my observations in California,should not properly be introditced
in this paper, I'shall leave them for another opportunity, the object of

my having méntioned them being to point out thegreat similarity between ~- *-

the superficial deposits of the great ‘gold-country and those within the
British territory. further north, which encouragés me to assert that the *

whole ‘cotifitry up “to the Kootani¢’ River. and the base of the Rocky’ -
.,Mountains; whereyer. the““ancient terraces prevail resting on Silurian-or

metamorphic rocks, will be found: to be auriferous. -In' my. party in
1859 I had an expert “ washer” who had been at the Californian,mines,
and he frequently got ‘“coldur,” “as a faint trace of gold is termed, by

_". merély washing. the gravel from the beds of the streams, without any,

‘regular “ prospecting” or “digging.” “The discovery of what are among .. -

the richest ‘pan-diggings™ on the Pacific coast in the SchimilJcomeen - -
a

-

oon

Valley, and the existence of gold-mines, worked since 1855 on Clark’s,

- © Fork, half 2 mile north of the boundaryline where it meets the Colum- ©

bian_River, prove that the belt of auriferous country in California and.

io ~ .
~ oF . 7 . teed

Y

js

..

/ : - é }

J TB

Oregon is continuous with that of Fraser River; and there i is no reason
to doubt that in a short time the, rugged and unoxplored country which
forms a triangular region ‘north of the boundary-line, and ‘is drained by
the waters of the Upper Colurnbia and the Kootanie Rivers, will be over- ,
run by’ ospectors, and .then by active gold-miners, just as ‘the western
“part of British Columbia has been within the last few years.”*

>

ot . -BRITISH COLUMBIA.

The country between the. Rocky Mountains and the Pacific *
Ocean is rugged in‘ the extreme. It forms a great trough;
bounded to‘ the west by the Cascade range of mountains, |

“which closely hugs the ‘Pacific coast. The Cascade range is
only rarely broken -by valleys, and it stands like a luge
_ barrier wall, 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the ocean. At inter-
Is there occur great conical mountains, which rise to 10,000
or 12,000 feet, and from their isolation - they. present a very
gran earance,t *
The corresponflent . of the London Times, | inder date of
Nov. 29, 1861; gives the following information Tespecting the
Cariboo Gold Fields :-— OO

.

CARIBOO. . . ;

“The portion of British Columbia wich has yielded ‘nearly all the
“ gold produced this year, and which is destined to ajtract the notice of,
~ the world to a degree hitherto not accorded to the country in the agere-
gate, is a. newly discoyered ‘district called Cariboo (a corruption ‘of
, erfbceuf” a large species of reindeer which inhabits the country). ':
. ‘The district is about 500 ‘tailes in the. interior, north (or north-east ;

*«T have just heard that some Americans have discovered that there is gold
deposited by the Saskatchewan at the Rocky Mountain House. If so, it must
be washed out of the shingle-terraces along Hie eastern base of the mountains,
——Angust 1, 1861.”—Dr, Hecror. ~-.. “8,

+ Dr. Hector “ ‘On the Geology of s pation of, North, América”. “Quan
Jour. Geo, Soc: wo Tk

” ' ty . Seon ad ‘eo

.

73

rather) from the coast of British Columbia and the mouth of Fraser
River. It is not far from the sources or ‘head waters’ of the south
branch of Fraser River and the Rocky Mountains, and forms a patch of
country—a broken, rugged mass-of-mountains and streams, 50 miles

from north to south, and 30 milés from east to west, as far as yet known ¢

from recent exploration—round three sides of which the south branch
of the Fraser makes a great bend or semicircle from its source to its
junction with the north branch, near Fort George, a trading station of
the Hudson’s Bay Company, in about Int. 53° 56’ N. For the sake of
accuracy, I should mention that this branch of thé Fraser, although now,
popularly called the south branch (and which the Hudson’s‘Bay Comipa-

ny called the north branch

from ‘the northerly direction of the first

portion of its course), is really the main body of the river. Its sources

are at a distance of some 60 or 70 miles westwardly from the main chain ~ -~-- -- ote

"of the Rocky Mountains. — The bend of the river, which embraces the

new inineral region’ within its curve, runs a course ‘north west 180 miles
- and then takes a south-west course of about 50 ‘miles in length. This
large section of country is believed, from the appearances presented on
various parts of the surface, to be auriferous, both in quartz (gold mat- ,
_ Tix) and in placeres, throughout its whole extent; and the portions” »
hitherto ‘prospected’ (as the miners’ phrase is for the search for, and
for the discovery of gold) are confined to the dimensions given above—

50 by 30"miles.

“Fraser River does not acquire: sits great velocity i in this part of its -
’ equrse, which runs through a comparatively level country until it enters
‘the regions of the Cascatles and other mountains ns through which its

waters rush with an impetuositys which causes

obstructions to

navigation. Consequently the river. is navigable ‘to F ort Alexander, in

lat..52° 87 nortlé for steamers: of light’ draught ¢ of water, Say three to

_ four feet, up'to Swift River, a distance of 45: miles, and which is within

' 40 miles of Antler, in Cariboo— fact which will facilitate the traffic of

‘next yor by shortening the land carriage of the Pe aiet routs. ‘ Cariboo
ew §

is in

. license of trade with the. lndine in the pcre yats which now forms the

colony of British Columbia. I cannot state the geogra position of
Cariboo with accuracy, but the centre of-ths he district
which. was the scene of this season’s mjfing may be 5 vine be-

The central point

2! ° .

a correction of /
. lat. 58° 207, weet Jong. 121° 407." —*

ntains,”” ite, iret he district.

owsmith’s map).is in north —

.

«

s

—

‘ . . -

74
*- / .
ie / THE CLIMATE, .'

, “Wo had from the first’ discovery of this gold: district heard most
unfavourable reports of the severity of the winter. season, which was
» ° Baid to render the country uninhabitable. The matter was set at rest by
some Canadians who wintered in Caribbo Igst year. ‘They found the
» * intensity of the cold so much less than in the’Canadas, that they repre-
/ sented the climate 9s mild compared with that of their native country.
i It is inhospitable from the altitude and the abundance of mountains, the *
fo. level land being about 8,000 feet and the mountains 5,000 fect more
fe 7 above the level of the sea. The spring. is wet, and the summer subject
f ° - to frequent rains, The snow falls in October; and, when the winter is
\ ‘fairly. set in, the weather continues cold, clear and dry. Tha-mining
\ season continues from May to October at present: but when accommo- —__
~\7~ ~~ ~~ dations increase, and the minerg begin to tunnel the banks and hills for

,

Vi ‘gold, as-they will, soon So, the winter will present, no, obstacles to con: -
yo, tinuous work, under cover of adits, during the whole season.” :
3° _ MINING CLAIMS.

‘A mining claim‘is a (parallelogram) piece of ground 100 feet wide,.
' running from bank to bank of a creek. “ The depth is indefinite, varying *
of course with the width of the creek. Each miner is entitled to one \
of these ‘claims,’ and there may be several mjners associated together
to work a ‘claim,’ In‘case of such.an assdciation amounting to five
. miners, the ‘company’ would be entitled to 500 feet of ground in width. |
_ and running from bank‘to bank. At first many miners ‘took u »’ claims
in simulated names, and thug caused 9 mondpoly—an evil which was
remedied by the Government Gold. Commissioner. when he visited the
country in the summer.’ Lo, wf ‘
_ . MINING LICENSES.-. oe
The miner of British Columhia pays but & very small tributé for per- .
mission to dig for gold wherever and whenever he pleases in the colony. °
. The mining license is only £1 sterling a year to foreigners and to British

8 Subjects alike without-any distinction or preference of any kind, And ©
_ © this trifle is optional. It may be paid or not at pleasure. ‘The payment +
oO gives the miner the ‘protection of the. law. in vindicating his rights of |

"sg9 Property, to his mineral ground or claim ;, agi this advantage naturally,
~~" Operates ag an inducement to tako out the license, while it-has at‘the .
same time the efféct of. preserving order. by. rendering the ‘ wild justico’
_9f Judge Lynch uncalled for,” re 0

¢

Cost oF JOURNEY FROM VICTORIA ‘TO. CARIBOO. —

__ ‘\The cost of a miner in getting from Victoria to- Cariboo would be
from £16 to £12." -As to security of life, I consider it just as safe there
asin England. As to the mining prospects, they are clear as the sun at
noon. Hveryyable man who chooses to work will make money.”

*ESTIMATED GAINS, - _ ,

' 79 miners took out an aggregate 0) $926,680
400 - “* claim owners, took: oF 600,000 - ..
1021 “ at$7a aay, i in 107 days: Lente een eneeecenens 764,729
_ Total yield (nearly ally from Cariboo . A Land $2,201,409 a
- ¥,500 miners who worked in other places for. 180” oq
days at $10-per diem. . ee ceeee pees $2,700,000 > ;
2,000 ditto at BBs e cece ee eetiheceeneeenees 1,800,000);
Po —_—— 4,500, 000
6,000 miners—gross yield for1861 vlealececaneaeeceale . $6, 791,409

“This does not include the native Indians, as T have no means OF” N
estimating their earnings. They are beginning to “ dig, ” in imitation of
the white man, in some parts, and. will eventually i increase the' yield of
gold, as the desire for va grows: upon them.” ‘ ae

a . mn -

“DIRECT ROUTE’ ‘THROUGH. BRrnst COLUMBIA TO. *-
“PAE PACIFIC.

Tn July, 1859, Mr. William Downie made an exploration,
of thé Skeena River, Babine Lake, and Stewarts, a feeder of .. ‘
’ Frazer River.’ The results are very important in view of a.

- ‘direct route ’across the continent. The Bkeena- flows: ‘into .
- Port Essington, ‘lat. 64.15,”

. Fhe party, Bays . Governor: Douglas, of: British Columbia,
commenced | the- ascent of the. Skeena ‘i ina canoe, which Mey
managed to take On as -far as the: For g;,4 distance of ‘110 -

miles from the sea, The riyer céases to” ‘be. avigable si at that °

76

point, in consequence, it-is supposed, ‘of falls and dangerous

* rapids; and they had to leave the canoe, and to travel 55
, niles by land to the Indian village of “Naas Glee,” a cele- _
“brated native fishing station, from whence the Skeena again

becomes” navigable.te its source in “Babine Lake,” 15 miles

. beyond “ Naas Gilet

Babine Lake is a broad and-extensive sheet of water, nearly
90 miles in length, with depth sufficient for vessels of the
largest class; and is separated by a low table-land 18 miles

not quite so large as Babine Lake, but otherwise equally well

adapted for the purposes of navigation.

Mr. Downie made several important discoveries in course

'. “of his adventurous journey. He found gold in small quanti-

ties on the Skeena River; and the mountains, which he had
not time to. explore, appeared to be of the formation 'contain-

. ing. gold; ‘he also’ saw very valuable and extensive beds of |
“coal. He moreover ‘found gold on Stuart’s Lake. He de-,

scribes the country between the Forks and ‘(Naas Glee”

~

--in- breadth from: Stuart’s' Lake,a feeder of Fraser’s River, ~ ~~

as-being well adapted for farming, and ‘suitable for the con-

‘struction of roads. The whole distance from Babine Lake to

the sea does not appear to exceed 180 miles, & great part. of
Which is accessible by water.

“The valley of the Skeena is thus shown t6 be an available

-avenue into the interior of British Columbia, and-will, I have |
no doubt, soon become a most important. ontlet for the upper ° ~

districts of Fraser's River, which, from the course of the i river

with the-tea.

_oad’ the direction of the coast, are brought in close proximity .

77: “4

‘As a means of supplying the distant 1 mining districts of |
British Columbia by a shorter and cheaper: route than the
valley of Fraser’s-River, its importance will.soon be 3 appreci-

-ated-and attract the attention of the mining and commercial;
classes; and I believe thatthe day is not far distunt when
steamers will be busily: plying on the waters of the two great .
inland lakes,”’* /

Mr. Downie and his party suffered many privations, but, in
the true spirit of an explorer, Mr. Downie says in his Report

to Governor Douglas, 2 ee

“The only thing that supported us was the” grand idea of .
the enterprise we were engaged in—that of being the first party
to explore the route from the Pacific to Fraser’s River, which
will one day connect the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean.”

CON CLUSION. . a Ba

Reader, glance for one moment at what the ‘Hon. W. H.
Seward thought and wrote in 1857, after visiting Labrador ~
and parts of Canada, when in cool blood he mused over the __
destinies of the country and its future relations to the States.t
The Hon. W-H.. Seward is playing a great part now on this
continent ; his opinion of the FUTURE OF BRitIsH AMERICA |
is worth weighing.. If youare a British subject“it will en-.
"courage you in bright hopes for “ Vigourovs, PERENNIAL,
AND EVER-Gnowine Canapa,” and for an OverLaxp Rovrn
TO Barrisy*CoLumntra.

” Papors folating to British Columbia, Oe *s ;

+A crulae to Labrador,—Log of the schoonor Emerence—Correapondence
of the tnt Evening Journal, by. tho Hon, W, H, Seward, now Secretary of
Btato, Unite Btates, . . .

tgs

a”
ae

78

“No one is more truly a waiter on Providence than the traveller who
depends on sails to be filled by favouring breezes. Ten watches of the
day and night have passed since we left Anticosti, and yct we are only
seventy miles nearer our port. But we have had balmy summer skies
and a, gontle- summer sea, not o craft of any kind has darkened our hori"
zon, It is to us asif the human world beyond it was not. The sea
birds have circled our masts, crying-for crambs from our table, as it has
been bountifully spread a-half dozen times on deck, either in the sun-
shine.or in the shade of the canvass. The whale has blown his loddest:
note on ‘his bugle in distances : so remote that the eye could not detect
him, though go well ditected by the ear; and agnin he has rolled lazily
by the ‘vessel's side, exposing” his vast ae

exhibitions of his race. ;
“Then the nights, There has been no méon. But the stars have

; spangled the sky from the zenith down to the water’s edge—hundreds of

ambitioug light-houses offering their services officiously to mariners who
lay becalmed, and, ‘therefore could not losetheir way. “And the Aurora,

’ emulous, has made a dozen milky ways in all fantastic forms, and gilded

their vergés with pink and gold borrowed from the richest sunsets, ‘The’
sea itself has been luminous, as the surface. was broken by the prow,
and rolled off waves of phosphorescenit light, so brilliant as to discover
the doings of the inhabitants who dwell in its dark chambers. ‘And now
all.this is passed. ‘The east wind we have impatiently sighed ‘for has
come at last, and it has brought 2s usual in- its train fogs, clouds and
cold rains,’ But these are attended by their compensations.” The Seven
Islands are passing behind us, and wo'are trying,- not; without hope, to -
reach the Point de Monts, and leaving the Gulf to enter the channel of .

" the River before the third ‘Sabbath of our yoyage dawns upon us.

“ Dreamy oxistence is this living at.sca in the summer, -Porhaps: my
meditations-on the political destinies of the region around me, may bo |
as, unsubstantial, But 1 ‘will. noverthcless confess and avow them.
Hitherto, ‘in common with most of my countrymen, as I eupposa, I have
thought Canada, or to speak moro accurately, British: America, @ mere

ta

‘ ry

ecient this..most just. .... —
-log of ours was not already filled with oily narratives of the hydraulic

79.

. strip lying north of the United States, easily detachable from the Parent
State, but incapable of. sustaining itself, and_ therefore ultimately, nay,
~. Yight soon, to be taken on by the Federal Union, without materially
~ changing or affecting its own condition or development, T have dropped

the opinion as a national conceit. I see in British North America,
stretching as it does across the continent, from tho$hores of Labrador

and Newfoundland to the Pacific, and occupying a considerable belt of

the Temperate Zone, traversed equally with the United States by the

- Lakes, and enjoying the magnificent shores of the St. Lawrence, with

its thousands of Islands in the River and Gulf, a region grand enough

~ for the seat of 2 great empire. In its wheat fields in the West, its broad
-~-- ---ranges\of-the chaso at-the North, its inexhaustible: lumber- lands; the,“ - --—--
most extensive now remaining on J the globe—its invaluable fisheries, a

its yet undisturbed mineral at deposits, I see the elements of weal

‘ fore when I look at-their resources, I know-they cannot be conquered by .
" the former nor permanently held by the latter. ey will be-independ-
ent, as they are already self-maintaining, ving happily escaped the
curse of slavery, they will never submit-themselves to the domination of
slavcholders, which-prevails4 in, and détermines the character of the Uni-
ted States, They will bea RusSia behind the United States, which to
‘theit will be France ond England. But they will be a Russia civilized ,
, and Protestant, and that will be a very different Russia from that which
fills all Southern Europe with terror,’ and by reason’ of that superiority,
thoy will be the more terrible to the dwellers i in the southern latitudes,

, . . "fhe policy of the United States is to perpetuate and secure the alli-
- ance of Canada while it is yet young and incurious of the future, But
_ on the othor hand, the policy which the United States actually pursues
’ is the jnifhtuated one of rejecting and spurning vigorous, PERENNIAL, AND
“EVER-GHOWING Canada, whilo rocking to establish feeble States out of des
caying Spanish Provinees on tho coasta and Instho Islands of the Gulf of -
. Moxico, . roy :

\ a oe ee

80 °

“T shall not live.to see it, but the man is already born who will see the
United States mourn over this stupendous folly, which is only preparing

, the way for ultimate danger and downfall. All Southern political stars

~ must set, though many times they rise again with diminished splendour. :
But those which illuminate the’ Pole remain n forever shining, forever i in-
creasing i in splendeur.

>.

a
i

PRACTICAL. OBSERVATIONS

ox “THE CONSTRUCTION OFA coxTmuous

_ LINE OF RAILWAY FROM CANADA TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN -
- So ce topes cp 2 ON BRITISH TERRITORY) —~ mors

‘BY SANDFORD FLEMING, ESQ, ©. z., .f
"Engineer to the Northern Rathoay of Canada.

To HENRY Youre Urn, Eso., Profesor, &e., &o.
Dear Sir,—According to your request, I have much pleasure in
submitting the following observations ‘on the construction of a high-

- way, within British territory, from Canada to British Columbia. .

Opening a communication for commerce between the western and

eastern shores-of North America, through the great basins of the
> St. Lawrence, the Saskatchewan, and the Columbia, has for nearly

two centuries’ been a dream of the enthusiast. .So'far back as 1679

Qobert Cavalier de Ja Sale formed. to himself the magnificent scheme |

of-opening a way to China and Japan through the ‘Lake regions’ of

Canada; and curious enough, the rapids : and, village of Lachine,

near Montreal, took their-names, either in honor or in derision of

La Sale’s ptoject, when he set out ¢ on his grand enterprise. “About
fifty years Jater, Charles Marquis de “Beauharnois, Governor of New.
France; projected an attempt to communicate with the Pacific, and:

in pursuance of which Pierre’ Gauthier de Varennes set out in 1731
* and ‘was the first to reach’ the Rocky Mountains. oor ee
‘OF late years the project has been brought prominently before fhe

public i in’ England wad 4 in Canada by many, writers, amongst others,

ee At ee eee

' g2 oy

Lieut. Millington Henry Synge, RE. ey in 1848 ; Major Robert

Carmichaél- Smyth, and a Mr. Wilson, of the Hudson’ 8 Bay service,

_.. in 1849; “Allan Macdonell, Esq. in_1850, and Captain Thomas

Blakiston, R.A., in 1859. ‘Hach laid their views before the public,

and warmly advocated the importance of opening up the interior of _

- British North America by a highway from ocean to ocean.
_ In 1858 the Provintial Legislature of Canada incorporated a joint

.... stook-company -for the purpose of-opening up-the interior -and-trad-~

ing therein. This body, entitled “‘ The North-West Transportation

* Navigation and Railway Company,” was granted most extensive

_ powers ; besides trading in furs, tallow, buffylo meat, hides, fish-oil,
and other articles of commerce, the company Was empowered to
improve and render navigable the various channels of water com-
munication ; to construct Jinks of roads, tramways, and railways,
between navigable Jukes: and rivers, 80 a8 to provide facilities for
transport from the shores of Lake Superior to Fraser's River, They
“had likewise the right to own and employ ‘vessels of all kinds ‘‘ upon

" Takes Huron and Superior, and upon all the waters, lakes and rivers”

lyidi&to the northward’and to the westward’ of the latter, thereby

offering to their energy and their enterprise ; a new and vast field for’

commercial .adventure.’’ ‘The directing board of this company was

the same year fally organized, it embraced some ‘of the leading names.

connected with Canada, but from some cause. it has as yet made no
progress in the objects contemplated.

From ,the- above brief sketch” of’ the history of the. project’ of
establishing 4 highway from Canada across the continent it appears

"that it has from the earliest settlement of the country bordering on
the Atlantic, been considered a magoificent scheme for the extension

of commerce and civilization; ‘the Palliser expedition across the
Rocky Mountdins, the Assinniboine and Saskatchewan expedition,

-' show that it has very lately received the attention. of the’ eaperial as

9

Sth

88:

well as the Colonial Governments ; the recent discovery of ‘gold on
both slopes of the Rocky Méuntains, gives it much additional interest,
and listly, the difficulties between the United States: cand Imperial
Governments, for the present happily set aside, have not fuiled to
show its vast importance.as an engine of military defence.
It seems likely then, that’ akthoigh the means of transport’ for
nearly. 2,000 miles are as yet scarcely better than they were when ~~ .
~~ —~La-Sale- attempted to traverse the -continent almost two centuries ~~ 7 7
ago, the time is rapidly approaching when a highway acrces the
continent will no longer, by any one be viewed as visionary.
Before proceeding to consider the construction of the work prac-
tically it will be necessary to discuss its character, and profitable to -

view, its magnitude, © ’ . ue 5
w -, T2S CHARACTER.- . ee
. et c

A coNTINTOUs LINE OF RAILWAY ADVOCATED, SL —

The early French Projectors appear to have had the idea of open-
. ing.a water communication to the Pacific through the lakes and
rivers ‘of: Canada and.the interior. - Nearly all the recgnt writers on a
the subject have - ‘proposed in’ different ways to imprave and render ~
navigable the natural lines of water communication: I am not aware - _
however, that any of thé latter, by reason’ of theit knowledge of the
great’ Rocky Mountain barrier, have-coitemplated a route wholly by -
water; they have generally advocated a_mixed system, employing * .\. °
thé’ water channels as far as possible, and connecting them by-inter-
mediate-links of roads or of railways. On the other hand; Captain ;
Blackiston appears to be much in favor of a Jand route, for the’ pre- o3
sent, at least from the north shore of Lake ‘Superior to Red River, ©. *
. by the north end of Lake of the Woods, at some distance inland -_
‘from | the international boundary line; and Major Carmichael- Smyth ° ‘
in 1849 boldly urged the construction of a “ British Colonial Bail-

Smee a .

Be te ee TO ne)

way” to connect without break Halifax on the Atlantic with the

mouth of Fraser’s River on the Pacific. - _ .

‘All the schémes proposed may be: reduced to two kinds, viz. 2
partly water and. partly’ land; and wholly land routes 3 the former.
may possess the advantage in point of cheapness in construction; but .

certainly not in regard to efficiency. By using the lakes and rivers

as far us navigable or capable of being made so, and by constructing

ir

~ * “eonnecting links of ‘roads’ or railways Where necessary to complete

the chaia, it is. more than.likely that a-line of communication could
be formed from ocean to ocean at less cost than could a continuous
land route ;—a mixed Iand and water route would, however, be
always open to the following objections: it would to a great exten ty
confine polonizatioasto the banks of rivers and lakes whers the soil

is not invariably moat suitable for cultivation: It-would involve |

many-transhipmentsy an be ‘Hable to frequent interruptions. ;' It
‘~—would necéssarily-bo considegitily longer than ‘a direct land route,
and, as a means of transport for “ through traffic,” would be slow’
and iedious,—it would too, and this objection is insuperable, be only
available for any kind of traffic during less than six months‘in _the
year.* It is well known that serious delays frequently arise on canal

“ nayigation before the season terminates towards the élose of navi- < -

greatér.would be these difficulties, merchants at‘either end, unwilliog |
_ to ritithe risk of haviag goods arrested in the interior for half a
year, would in. consequence-be debarred from sending consignments

across thé-country for some considerable time before the water chan-

nels were completely closed, and hence it is believed that a partly

Jand and water route would not be really serviceable for “through
. aes . y ~

a

* The navigation ‘of the lakes: and rivers on the line of route are closed
_, from the middie-of November.to the Ist of Jane.—Bisziston. ‘

go

“4%

oes by reason of the press of business. - The longer the route the

85° - 7 / \ . i

traffic” over five months in the year. .The local/traffic of the inte-
riér would likewise be suspended for long periods, and at such times.
the country and its inhabitants would be.as ‘uch. isolated ‘ag they /*
are now. In military view alone this objection would prove fata
to any permanent route of an amphibious character ;. and it is prd-
_ Bably on this ground, together with the fact that the water lines pass

A railway communicatioa on the other hand would be the
practicable line that the physical. features of the cout

admit,—it would have no transhipments between tide water on. the” a

two oceans,—it would in most instanded be carried thro gh the heart
of the country at some distance from lakes and rivers, and would
_ thus open valuable tracts of land for colonization which could not
be. reached by navigable wateis ; when it touchéd or intersected.
water channels, these would form natural. branches to it, and be
available to their fullest extent in laying opew’the land along their
banks for settlement. It would, as an esséntial and independent
fart of its equipment, be provided with. ad electric telegraph the
telegraph, as on other lines, would be available for purposes beyond
the immediate requirements of the railway, and without doubt great:
benefits would result from: the possession of this instantaneous
means of communication. * The railway would throughout the year

nied eee oe

*A télegraph would be much more expensive in the first place, and’ almost

impossible to maintain on any line noross the country other than a railway
or other travelled land route, if carried around lakes or through on hy Rie
miles of uncleared forest, the wires would -constantly be brokeir
timber, and the posts frequently destroyed by running fires; ings ;
- interruption? might thas ocour when the telegraph was most in nee es
railway it is-part of the duty of the trackmen to look out for ‘fallen teen :
and a break is thus speedily repaired when it occurs: when the line is ole:
_ toa sufficient width interruptions from this cause are not frequent. —

“

be open to tranpport ee through: ” ag. veel ag & local ” merchandise and
* passengers; and would, take with the telegraph, In a niilitary aspect .
~ be avuiluble at all’ times und’ seasons, and would undoubtedly prove
, - an important aa_ well: as permanent mexsure of defence to. the
i on COUNT eee : “ : 4, -*
’ It is not, howaver, to, be supposed that ‘the operating of a railway
through ‘this extensive country would bo entirely free from om diffieal-~
4 +, ties; the permanent supply. of fuel would. be.a. question- of sno: little “~~ ~
““woment, the intense'frosts and tha snow drifts’ of a Jong. wiater
‘ would have,to be contended with. The latter i is found in operating
Canadian as well as other railways io a ‘like northern latitude to-be .
a cause of not ‘unfrequent interruption to the regular running of “-
trains, besides oftén the Reessity of a “heavy outlay. Fhe drifting _
“of anow,-like all operations of nature is, however, governed by cer-
“tain laws, and it is possible on a corréct knowledge of them to adopt -
' measures in the general design. of ‘Tailways and their appliances which
may certainly | diminish if they do:not entirely remove the evil effects
‘of the agency referred to.. These questions will be more partioularly- 7
: referred, to in their proper place. co a
Taking all things into consideration, and, "notwithstanding ‘the
difficulties last. mentioned, ‘it seems -as clear.as a. demonstration that
vat + @ continuous line of railway, with its electric telegraph, extending
across -the continent is-much to be preferred to « in hae system of
" navigation and railway combined, and therefore: in the following’
observations it will be understood-that a line of railway i is the char-
acter of highway ultimately in view.. It is true that; in’ preparing
_ the country for railway service the natural water channels as far ad". *
they go may be advantageously employed, but it would evidently be.
__ unwise to incur much expenditure; on any route other than that best
calculated to accommodate the permanent wants of the country’ and
. highest interests of ‘the Colonial Empire.

, x

Ac? ITs MAGNITUDE:
- co8r ARD MAINTENANCE OF A RAWWAY AND ‘TELEGRAPH LINE,
Having determined the ‘character of the means of communication

~ most desirable to be established it may be well now to ‘glance at the -

eam parative dimensions of the proposed - work, and’ to. consider the
cost of its construction as well as the annual expcnse of maintaining
it for ever afterwards. Lo
“Measuring on the - aap along the “général: route of “The_proposed
like from the mouth of Praser’s Kiver; through one ofthe best ©
passes yet discovered in the Rocky -Mountains, along the’ general’
direction of “the Fertile Belt,” keeping south of the North Suas-
katcltewan, crossing the Red River-near the § Settlement, bridging
the Winnipeg River at the north end of ‘the Lake of the Woods,
striking through the country to the most northerly bendof the shore
of: Lake Superior, thence-in a diréct line to a crossing ‘on the French .
“River west of Lake Nipissing, and from this point connecting with
the existing railway system of Canada, either at the Town of Barrie,
or at Peterboro, orat the City of Ottawa ; the: distance thus mea-
sured will be found to be in round numbers about ; 2000 nuiles, and |
although a railway between the two oceans on. British territory, ~~
cannot be considered perfect without the completion of the road be-
‘tween Halifax and the niost easterly extension of the Grand Trunk
in Lower-Canada, yet'as there is some prospect of this section being ~
made ‘independeiitly, it. does ‘not appear. pecessuryto embrace its
length i in the prezent ¢ ‘consideration. ‘ :
That a just cofiception may be formed of the real magnitude. of

“ the projéct ‘under ‘discussion, and the means necessary to its attain-"

ment, attenfion may for'a moment be drawn: to a few leading details.
_, The construction of 2000. miles of railway: ‘measured by the average —
"standard of similar works existing in -this qountry implies. the. per-
. formance of Inbourers’ work suficient to. ive employment to’ 1000.

uv , “ 88 ve
| men for 50 ¢ or +60 years,—it involves the delivery of 5, 000, 000 crése-
ties or sleepers, and over :200 ,000 tons of iron-rails for the per-

” manent way! —it comprises tho- erection of 60, 000 _ Poles | hung: with,
1000, tons .of wire for the Tejegraph—it. necessitates the creation of
motive -power equivalent to over 50,000 horses, which power, would

. be concentrated -in 400 Locomotives—it involves the production of

. from 5000, to 6000 cars of all kinds, which, coupled with thé loco-
lastly ‘it implies a gross expenditure on construotion-and equipment,

' of not less*than $100,000,000.*"

Jt will likewise serve as a salutary check on hasty conclusions to
weigh before: hand the cost of operating a.truly gigantic establish- .

_ met of: the kind after ita perfect completion; a few figures derived
from actual regults will shew that the first ,construction ‘of a ‘railway

_ Motives, would. make_a single ‘train over..30- miles in, fongth—and on

through the Ynterior of British N orth America i is even a less formidable

uridertaking than that of keeping ig afterwards open ‘in the present ~
condition of: the country.’ -For operating the line successfully, the -

itd

ena siderably exceed 200, 000 cords—for keeping ‘the road’ in repair as
“ ‘regiment of 2000 trackmea would: constantly.be employed in small

“gangs, throughout its entire length; . for.the same purpose .there

- would on an average be annually required 600,000 new cross-ties as

well as 8 nearly 30, 000 tons of new or re-rolled iron rails—the anoual
repairs of Rolling Stock would not cost less’ than one. million dol- .

, lars—over 5000° “employées ofall kinds would constantly, be.under *

Pays atid ag thesa:men would denally Tepresent ‘each ‘a family, there

. ajor Carmichaol Smyth estimated the cost of building aline of railway.
frown alifax to the Pacific at £150,000,000 aterling, equal’to over $700,000,000... -
. +’... but then he computes the expenditure as on English railways, where.more
a - nonéy has been wasted ‘in Ean eliminary expenses and lavished on architectu-
; vale ‘niontiments at Stations nan would suffice to build a an sonnel length of road
oye in ‘this’ or ay new ‘country... ,

* fuel alone required in‘each year, and estimated as wood, would con-

Soe - 89 , .
would. ‘not be far éhort of 20,000 souls subsisting by the operation of

- the road: | The aggregate amount of wages in each year after the.

“yoad was in operation would swell out to nearly $2,000,000, while
the. gross expenditure for operating and maintaining works, would
‘anoually exceed $8,000,000.. .

' Again, if to this ‘last sum be added. the tiiferest on first cost, “it

.. becomes evident that until the gross earnings of the railway in each.
_ year come, ‘up to. the.enormous sum.of. $14,090,000, -it could-not- pay -

interest c on the capital invested.

“Ins IMPORTANCE.”

A GREAT NATIONAL WORK, ‘X-FTELD FOR LABOUR, AN ENGINE ‘oF weurranr
. = DEFENCE.

The above computations taken by themeelvés are nicre than suffi-

_ cient'to deter any one from:casting a second thought on'the subject of

constructing a railway through the unpeopled wilds of British North
Anigrica, bat when we again réfléct on ‘the vast importance ‘of. this
. great national work the belief is forced upon us, that at some period,
- “tet it be @ remote one, the undertaking will certainly be a¢complished.
‘While, most authorities -have very fully dwelt upon the commercial
advantages to be‘ attained by a speedy means’ of communication
a across the’ country—while they ‘have shown ‘its value aa a connecting
chain between British Columbia, the Gold Fields on the slopes of the
Rocky Mountains, the Settlements at Red River, and the Atlaatio
Provinges, ss well as a link of connection between Clina, India,
even Australis, together with other Dependencies onthe Pacific and
_ the Parent Land——while they“have advocated it as the key to‘ ‘new
and almost boundless field for British capital, energy and’ enterprise—
ag a great instrament of colonization, opening up a territory of vast
extent for. the superabundant and rapidly increasing. population of

‘the European” States, a and in this respect involving the fatare. and

Fo. :
oan be, +

o>

oo. 90 ae

‘permanent interests of civilization—yet it has not been the good for-

“<;, tune of the writer to peruse any article in which this undertaking i is

.

____able to concentrate_troops and_rhunitions.of.war.at-any.given- -point ——.
‘uu our extended frontier, but the récent-difficulties betwen the Brit. we

rd

ee.

oor
.

viewed asa most important ‘measure of defence, a3 a work which".
_ may at some period save many millions sterling in carrying on a war
“which may, if it does not prevent & war, save the Colonial, ‘Empire
from dismemberment.

_-In times of Peace we are apt to overlook the importancs of being

ish and American governments, could not fuil to illustfate thé mili
tary value of the séveral Canadian railways as well. as the isolated
and defenceleas condition of the for interior. Had war not-fortu-

_ nately been avoided it is difficult to see how that vist and prospect-.

ively most valuable territor “betweon the Lake District and the Rocky

Mountains could have been protected. from ‘invasion and ‘permanent.’

occupation, and we are forced to.the conclusion that until a highway,
is formed the intorior‘of our country is indefensible. ‘The Romans

paid particular attention to the construction of roads through the -
distant Provinces of the Empire, and while the construction of these _

roads was one of the grand ‘causes of civilization introduced into

barbarous States, the great leading principle-which actuated the

builders of thom, was that of maintaining their military supremacy,
the first efforts of ‘that peoplé were directed to piercing new acquisi-

tions to the Empire with good roads, and these roads. wherever prac-_

we

ticable were connected-in unbroken lines with the-seat of government. ,

at Rome. The remains of’ these roads are still to. be traced in va-
rious rawifications through Europe, and 80 substantially were they

constructed that they have for fifteen centuries perpetuated the > power ;

_and foresight of their originator:

: In modern times, Napoleon, one 10 of the greatest, if not the greatest .

~ niilitary authority, announced the. maxim that the highest effort. of

.

Oe "1

me
the military tactician was to concentrate a a piven number. 6& men at -
. @ given pluce, aba given time. - It ‘requires no argument to prove .
that the Railway and the Electric Telegraph are the most: -perfect,, ° .
means for concentration of military power that could possibly be.”
desired, and wecan ‘easily perceive with-what comparative enge forces“ a €
_ could be brought to bepr through the instrumentality of these agents, ‘
. on apy point threatened with iavasion. ,
_--——True;-we-are ogain-at peace: with our neighbours t0 the ‘oak “and
perhaps likely to remaia in-that happy state fur a considerable time,
but possibly not always; some good authority bas luid down as a
maxim, that to maintain peace, a nation must be well’ prepared-for
an opposite condition of things, and theréfore we inust see the value -
of the railway route to bind the several North American Colonies of 46
Britain together. . But it is not alone as a work of defence that the
British Pacific Railway would be serviceable ina military sense ; it
cannot be forgotten that within a very few years back the British
troops had to be transported with the greatest possiblé. fapidity to .

_ India.and again to China. Such exigencies may at‘any time occur
again, either! in the same lands or at other points in the same hemis- _
phere, and it must be of the utmost importance ‘to. the Imperial 4.
Government to possess tho means of carrying militsry furces more

“rapidly by a route over entirely British soil than by any other route
slong which they may come in contact with antagonistic nations, :

I have already overstepped the limits of space which these. -pre-

liminary remarks should have occupied, but I cannot proceed to the

: more practical section of this letter without first alluding to the

’ efforts which for. more than half a century. have been made by the

“Imperial Government to discover a- means of communication by *
water between the. Northern Atlantic and’ the Northern Pacific :
Oceans, ‘Although the persevering and sometimes heroic-attempts coe
to find ¢ a ‘north-west passage have resulted: i in no direct advantage, =

NY “ oo a

92 og, to e

“ay ny 43

beyond.. trifling contribution’ to science and geographical Lnowlédge, _

- «yet théy are-undoubted evidence of the:high cofnmercial and mili-

| ™ tary value which the’ British Government has long placed upon the -.
° _ possession , of a-means of communication between the two ocesna'in ,

the northern hemisphere ; and while the- expenditure- of a sum von-
”..” pidérably over a million -pounds sterling has - only proved that a
cos passage: through the Arctic: Seas canaot-be established,.the very
impracticability of the passage which the outlay. of so much treasure

& ° as well as the loss. of so many, valuable lives ‘has demonstrated, must ,
” withgut doubt add immensely to the’ importance of the only practicn-

a __bidWoute across the continent, ‘on British soil

‘| >. SCHED, OF CONSTRUCTION.” . oie a

. ane é THE COMPLETION OF THE ‘RAILWAY x WORK oF ome,

“The idea of constructing ‘upwards of 2, 000° “iles ‘of railway i in
the manner which has characterised the establishment of similar un-
dertakings heretofore, through a country almost uninhabited except

i * by ‘eattered ‘bands of .wagdering Indians, may well be viewed asa.

‘ commercial absurdity. It has’been shown that the maintaining and
operating of. a railway of this éxtent, ‘after its _perfect completion,
would cost not.less than eight million dollars j per annum, and that

4

its, traffic would have ‘to yield ‘in “gross receipts ‘fourteen “willions "> °

of dollars every year, to enable the work to pay ‘interest on the: capital

_ invested.
- Cogld it be satisfactorily shown that 1 these receipts might even be

approached, the, work would undoubtedly bea legitimate investment 7
. for private capital, and we might fairly expect-to see it undertaken -

by private enterprise, but at present-po such indacement ¢ can beheld” mo

|. outs however important the line would -be id’ matiy 2 réspécts the,

- busfniess of ‘the country traversed could’ ‘not, for imany- years ‘yield
) 42 moré than a factional patt of the Fovenue requir oop it open,”

°

; . a4, - |
"and the traffic from ocean to ocean could not be expected even by
" . the most sanguine to give. constant and profitable employment to a
“ “force of four hundred locomotives, without which the road would
searcely pay. =. - “
It appears conclusive therefore that the immediate construction of _
& railway from Canada to the Pacific is in a financial sease impracti-
cable, seeing that it would not at present-pay ; and however impor-
tont it may be,considered as a great national work its successful
_” operation as a commercial undertaking cannot take place-until the
eduntry is better prepared for it. © - ; . oe
_..... dt must_not however_be implied that the idea ‘of éstablishing.a =.
continuous line of ‘railway from ocean’to ocean should even'al the. ~ |
present time be’ set aside. It may be laid‘down aya maxim that
wherever traffic can exist sufficiently extensive in any-section of
..-eountry to render the application’ of*steam power profitable thrdugh a
that section a riilway will sooner or later be constructed. The | “*
--country between Canada and the Pacific is, according to reliable
authority, in every respect capable of supporting a large industrial ~
-population* half as“large perhaps even at a moderate computation
“as the population of thie whole Uwited-States=the population of-the
whole United’ States sustains over. 30,000. miles of-railway, and .
* “therefore we may reasonably conclude that Jong before the interior’ -

i

\

“Assuming that only that’ portion ‘of British America west of the Luke of 4
: the’Woods and south of the main or North Saskatchewan River, is capable Ce
“y of being populatéd to no greater density than Ruésfa, the least populous coun. +
. try Europe, Norway und Sweden-excepted, within these limits a population ~
~ "of 15,000,000 would be contained, (the density of the Population . uesia is
only,abéut one-third that of the settled portion of the Canadas). Theoceu. | .
ation of this portion of the country need not be considered a great‘encroach. ,'
>. ment‘on the territory from which the Hudson’s Bay Fur Company derives its
revenne, it would still leave 2,000,000 square miles, an area four times greater
, than that assumed to be populated, an area quite as extensive aq Russia. and
- _Sbundantly sufficient, itis.presumed; for a hunting ground.

were eee oe See
oy

ae

4

-» °° of British America is fully occupied, a leading line of railway com- |
: munication through it i may be successfully operated ‘and profitably
sustained. -

The question’ of opeving up new territories for settlement: by
on means of some comprehensive and economical road syatem engaged
7 “my attention a few years ago when ‘I had the honor to read two
papers on the subject before the Canadian Institute, and'I cannot

but think that some ‘of the conclusions then come to-apply with

peculiar force to the subject matter of this letter. In one of these

_papers a retrospective view was taken of the*process by which the

“Province. of Canada had become habitable -and inhabited, so far.at -.

1! Teast as_ lines , of. internal -communication—had- been- instrumental. ‘ia ——

producing these results, and an analytical examination of the exist-

ing) road and railway systems was made, as well ‘bs an enquiry into

yg - the means employed to produce them. ‘From these enquiries, insti-

“» tuted with the view of arranging some more perfect system of road

= " .” development for advantageous’ introduction into. unoccupied districts, |
; ‘certain deductions were drawn, of which the. following may at present

* be submitted. * .

2 In carrying railroads, the most , perfect of ‘all roads, into’ remote
— unsettled districts, two great dificultiés have to be encountered. at
os “the outset :—Hirst, their construction ; ; secondly, their inaintenance.

" "he former may be overcome by a process. which stron gly resembles.

_a law or principle in mechanical science, by, which. we are. taught »
that time is an element of equal importance to power in the perform-
ance of mechanical operations. The construction of a railway with

- all its, parts is nothing: more than a’ complex mechanical” operation,
whilst. _ capital or money ‘may ‘be designated the force or. power | .
employed to ‘bring. about: the desired result ; 3a large expenditure of
financial force -is undoubtedly required to. ‘acconiplish the object -

a , Withia, a abort. ‘period, bat, owing to. the, ‘peouliar ‘relition betwéen a

an

BB an

power and time the employment of a small amount of force or capi-
__tal would equally accomplish’ the same end in a‘ loager period ;
both of these elements are indispénsible, but they aré not neces-
sarily required in fixed proportions,.if we use the maximum of
the one we only need the minimuai of the other,—if circumstances
“Th any particalar, case will not juatify a large expenditure of capital”
then time may, be extensively empliyed to accomplish. ‘the work in
hand.
The second dificulty above referred, to, viz. : that of: ‘maintaining
a railway i in a new district after its completion, although™by fut the
most serious of. the two, is one which fortunately can be removed - ey

~-~by-a-particular-solution--of-the- first It--is- obvious. that - to- -put-- at

- “appear, experience. has shown on nearly all railways that the “local”

""many-years without the means, of. earning sufficient to. sustain n itself, bat

a limited extent, and it would’ leave the railway finished when. the
“traffic was gufficient ‘to keep it.in profitable operation... .

a railway in a condition of being self-sustaining, the. traffic of the coun-
try through which it passes must first be develupéd, forhoweveriwpor- =,“
tant and promising the ¢ through: traffic’ of any projected] Vine may

or ‘ way traffic” is that upon which they, must wuioly depend for a
~revenue.’ The local traffic of a new territory. can only be developed _ |
by the introduction of labour and inhabitants; this is a-work of -. | a
considerable time even under the most favorable eirciinistances,. bus «OS
until this be.done it is-useless to expect sufficient traffic, and without :
sufficient traffic the railway cannot muintain itself cot
In- - applying the foregoing to the question: of forming a railway
connection: between. Cunada and the Pacific, it, would follow: ‘that ;
whilst the completion of the: ;work at the earliest period possible’ ot
would absorb an enormous amount of capital, and Jeave the line for + |”

thb gradual process of construction would draw upon capital % Saly to

whe epee rete

- The. former: ‘course smay fairly, be Tejetied as incompatible s with the |

a . . he, Sy 6 . e a

firat principles : the latter being’ perhaps the only alter. -
native, forces ua’to. the conclusion that the gigantic work under con- -
sidera on, / 'to by constructed at all must be viewed-as a work of time;:
and i iy remaing/for us to consider how the time at command can be
most: b profitably. émployed to bring about the desired result.

a ~-f _ THE ROAD SYSTEM OF- CANADA, 00
—_ ~~ congrpenep. IN VIEW OF a COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR ew TERRITORIES, ;
In pursuance of the object in view, it may be satisfactory and pro.
'.fitable to refer briefly to the leading “cHaracteristics which have
- marked the origin and improvement of the roads as well as the intro.
| _.-. -..-- duction. of-railroads-in the-settled-portion of Cstada

The settled or partially settled portion of Canada embraces ahi area”
estimated at 35, 000 ‘square miles’; its road system or means of inter-
communication exclusive ‘of navigable channels, consists of nearly.
2,100 miles of railway i in fall opération,, of probably 3000 miles in the

. agerepate of improved, roads, comprising those made of broken atone,
; gravel and plank, and in round. numbers.of 50,000 iniles of what |

a _are termed road allowancag’; of the last it is estimated that consider-
‘ably less.than one- half the total length i is cleared of thé timber and
so far improved as to be’ passable for wag ggons, the remainder being:
as yet uncleared and in “part permanently impassable. 1" -

The road’ allowances demand some explanation ; they are invariably
-one chain’ (66 feet) i in’ width, ‘and are left between the square or-ree-
~“tangular blocks of.farm Lots, into which the whole country has been
a * gubdivided- -for settlement ; they ‘are consequently i in parallel lines; -
‘and in two sets, the one crossing the other’ at right angles, leaving _
blocks between of two or more farm lots of 200 sicres each.
The aggregate area of these ‘road: allowarices'i is extremely. liberal;
98 it canaot be much less than 400, 000 acres,” but from the manner
“Ja which the allosraxices, arg laid out, they « cannot in all, cases. be ems. 7,

t

o

ployed for the purposes intended; they are, “however,. much used, by
the farmers in common for pasturing cattle. Where the country is

level and free from Jakes, rivers.or-other.obstructions, the road allow-

, ances. have béon- converted~into good summer Waggon roads by the = + -
. sunual performance of statute labour and they give ready access to
thefarm lots; where the country ig hilly or broken on the other hand»
gre t difficulty, has been experienced in making ‘them passable, and
in/ many instances this is impossible, and in others after s great deal 3
of: money and labour had been expénded, the original Toad allow- ;
ances have been abandoned for better ‘lozations. 7
As the settlement and trade of the codntry advanced ademand ge
~ was-made-for amore ‘improved: class-of highways’on the leading” lines* ae
of traffic; this led to the construction of plaak,* gravel or broken’ ;
stone roads through different parts of the country, and may be said
to constitute the second stage in the development « of the rond'system.: *"
As the road. allowances were left-in.the original surveys more to

. mark’ the limits between blocks of land than to accommodate: the Ae

future commercial wants of the couiitry, they did. not. long remain ©
‘the only: means of: communication between one business point and
‘another. Increasing traffic frequently called for roads with easier
- ‘grades than those to be bad on the original road: :allowances, and in

* cases where it sought an:outlet disgonally across't the, country, it de-
. manded a shorter line than’ the. old rectangular rigenag, one 5 . in this ;

manner new and more perfect roads were constructed i in various & gec- .
tions of the country. | vow a
‘The. third: and.‘last stage. in the: establishunant, of lines. of ioternsl _
eminunication within the Province; was’ the formation of: “railways ; Te
these were first introduced. about. ten or twelve “years, ago.when.the =. °
‘increasing commercial wants of the- coantry: appeared: to demand a °- :

‘greater: degres, of. rapidity, safety. and; ‘security: of transport. ..

Mag

nisias plane red ‘wan balls ‘VoperCanae ie 18 nes aa =

[hee

98

Although the’ location of railways through any district requires a

higher degree of care and skill than that of gravel or other roads of

nN

oe

_a like character, yet it is governed - by precisely the same principles,
_and the general ‘direction of all lines is prescribed by the leading

direction sought by traffic; hence we find that the various lines of
railway have been’ constructed parallel, or at least in a parallel direc-
tion to the various-stone oF plank roads which haye preceded them,
although they are frequently found at some distance asunder : this is
a ‘peculiarity which cannot fail to have been observed by all those

” adguainted with the country.

. ‘xpended in. cutting? Bille balding ridges be eo; agin: “Toadzaning, yet

From the ubove brief outline of the origin and history of the lines

three, distinct classes of roads-have at different times been constructed
to meat the requirements of traffic. First we have common earth
roads, on the original road allowances. ‘Second, gravel, plank or
beg en stone roadsin improved locations.: Third, railways construct-

quite: independéntly of the other two—showing asa rule that
thd distinct works have been made, involving as many separate,

expenditures before the final object is attained. “The only exception -
' to this rule are where the second class have ‘been made on the lines

of the original road-allowances, bat these exceptions have perhaps
been even more experisive.to the country than when the rale has hot

beén departed fromi.* oe a

' *Inag Report made by Thomas Roy, Esq., Civil: Engineer, i in 1841, to the |
. Governor General of Canada, reference is made to the excessive cost of making |

good roads on the lino of. original allowances. drawn straight through the

that portion -which has been already.done nearly ; as much money has been

-eqguntry across ravines, over hills, through swamps and. other, ‘hindrances... ,
. Amongst other cases where attempta have been made to construct improved .
roads on such lines as that alluded to he instances the following: “! The grants-- —.-.
were made to macadamize Yonge Street Rodd from Toronto to Holland iLand-. *
ing, near Lake Simcne. Now Yonge Street Road was so located that it waa _
" extremely. difficult and expensive to’ form it, into a.tolerabl ly good. rond. On

- of- commercial: intercourse within the~ Provinces “it willbe séen tliat ~~~

99 Le Tt
It may also be observed that the system adopted has‘in minor.
details unavoidably resulted in many permanent inconveniences to
..,the trade of the country, which under other arrangements: might
*“have been obviated; as- an illustration it may for the present be
sufficient to allude to the inconvenient distances which nearly all the
railway stations are from the towns and villages they ara.intended to
‘ pecommodate. It may further be noticed that a degree of competi-
“tion likewise obtains between the parallel lines of communication
throughout the country, alike injurious to the interests of both. A
stone road running parallel to a railway cannot fuil to share with it - wot
the traffic of the locality, perhaps just sufficient to prevent the later’. /
---~ -line from’ paying, while the” fornier is deprived, by thie” miofe récent~ "> =

a

-" as branches to them from the stations, it is apparent that then the

several of the inclinations.are as steep ag 1 in 14; That portion which re-
. mains to be done is still more difficult, and, it will be more expensive, Now,
if previously, to commencing the work an experienced Engineer had beenin- |.
structed to examine the country and to lay out 4 road .npon the: best, ground. -’ ~~"
. which he could find between Toronto and Holland Landing, he would have
' discovered” that between 3 and-5 miles west of Yonge Street’ Road, alineof — ;
-. road jestld’ have been got from Toronto to the base of the Ridges, (about 25 °°:
_ _ milesj:without crossing one ravine, or meeting any difficulty except the hill. tye
.' > £0 the north-west of Toronto; and farther, that the Ridges could have been
crossed in that direction without’ involving any considerable difficulty. (The
result is, that the same ‘amount which has been expended in making about
fourteen miles of a very indifferent road, would have made about thirty (miles . .
_ of excellent road, leaving no inclinations steeper than J in 40; acireumstonce, .~. ..”.,
"that would haye produced a great'saving in repairs, and in expense of aoimal
~ efrength.! .:--"-~ we ES Ma i creme

r, co my oo - wee en oe .

| 100

country generally would derive grentar advantages, while the different ‘
_ classes of communications, in ‘performitg: their- proper functions,
.. would receive correspotiding bendéfits to those they eonforred.

At is not for: 4 moment presumed: ‘that w.re-nrrangement of: ‘existing
lines “of traffic such’ ps, that~su éested.is now possible; but these -
remarks are offered with the view of showing. some of the benefits °
which would reanlt frbut' Ey pre-arrangemont of internal communication - -
dn a new-country,, hie Twill take occasion to refer to shortly.

", Before attempting to\show how we may best profit by the expe .

: rience. obtained from the Canadian road system in any effort to

7 * colonize the. interior of British North America, Twill first allude to.

ss eee nd

s——- another point’ whieh “doubtless bas” suggested itself to many others,
wand which I think is of some moment. .

If we proceed to analyse that portion of a perfect railway upon
which the trains/' are sapidly transported: we find. that’ it consists
essentially of soe parts: 1st, Two smooth parallel’ and hori-
- gontal surfaces gporwhick the wheels of the carriagés roll; these are
formed by irof” railsiresting upon, “cross:ties and supported by chairs ~

1% | ‘or other fixtures, the'whole being'termed e the permanent-way’” or
Pp ' “superstructure.” 2nd, ‘A layer of'gravel or broken Btone from fifteen -

we edt

‘to thirty inches in thickness immediately under and around the cross-. "—

- ties, and technically, xalled “the ballast.” 8rd, An ‘earthen-surface
'» uniformly even and -properly ditched: at. the- sides, . This surface’ is. °
“termed “ the formation Jevel,” * aud on itthe ballast ia: ‘placed, ‘and
_ thus. proceeding: downwards. from the completed rail. track we ‘have:
cee, - Tat. Thie Permanent way, As rs oe

~ 1. “@nd. The Ballast. « pa

“8rd, The Formation Zerel...— — i CRs

To those: ‘who-have observed. the successive ‘stages. of ‘railway build:
ing it will be clear that “The F Formation, Level”. is not dissimilar,
. except in. possessing easier of grades 0 ‘and cutves, to the best desoription a ,

oo :, tot ‘ . sae
we, ., . nae Lo wo .ae

red

oe) _

ct)

of “ common’ earth roads,” and might readily be used ‘for‘all the ~ .
purposes: for ‘which the latter are | -eriployed. _ Again, when ‘tthe ~

* Formation Level” becomes coated with “Ballast” we have what is
"designated ‘ The Rond-bed,” ‘and’ which, without: any‘portion of the
«Supsratructure,” corresponds with the - general construction of

* Gruvel” or “Stone roads.”’ If, therefure, wo invert the order .

above given, ‘and likewise. substitute new-names, we have, ~'
Ast. An Ege Road,, corresponding with:the Formation ‘line.
"2nd. A Gravel“or Stone Road, corresponding with the. -Road-bed.
8rd. A-Railway. ;

This ‘is precisely. the order in “ubich’ the, leading: ines: of ‘commun: _

* “Feation have been. formed in Canada,-and although: cach ‘work-as"a .

-rule hag been’ constructed independent of: the ‘other, and thas

” necessitated separate’ expenditures to accomplish one end, yet itdoes. -

not-appear a difficult. ‘matter to:point out how the same object can be

better attained i in -new territories to. be settled, by.a simpler and less .
- costly ‘system. “Were the railway ; Jine first. located, the common -
" classes of roads which. naturally precede: ‘it might firdt. be made (on ©
the railway location) and used until each in-its turn merged into its ~ -
. Successor; and by such’a plan it is clear that ‘eousiderable saving |
* would: result on. the final establishment. of-the rajlway; There might ;

“be new-earth works needed where the ground was brqken by fatioes

and hills, as well as ‘atronger bridges across ‘rivers, pat. no outlay .
; _ would be . necessary for land, or for clearing and. grabbing, dt any .

é, and-on level. sections of. the line, such as oceur ‘n-all. Toads,
the only Saditional expense would: ‘be that for the: sap) tracture.-

A ROAD SYSTEM. FOR NEW TERRITOR Soo

i

‘ TOTALITY: ‘ ADMED: ‘An ‘AND PROVISION. FOR FUTURE RAILWAYS, ADVOCATED.

” Froin the foregoing. observations it must be" ‘Obvious thatthe pro-.
_ Breas of new territories, as well as ‘their future sad. peridianent ¢ social’ . -

oN. we

‘

\

A.

. Ist

2 0 ‘|

and commercial wants would be much influenced by a pre-arrange-
ment of the various lines-of interval communication; and it must

be equally clear that to attain the highest degree of | "easy intercourse

road of whatever class, should be’ covsidered us a portion. of a whole
system.

*The system ‘of construction ‘proposed ‘to be advocated i is that of a.
gradually progrogsive character, similar to that already hinted at, and —
- inasmuch as it would evidently be a misnomer to designate thie vari-
ots lines: of roads in their rudimentary: stages by.the names.they.--.

_mnay_ultimately-be intended to bear,-it is’ thought that the following
terms for the-three classes of lines will be convenient and sufficiently

spproprgts ' ; ; ihe

by stage, ‘into railways'as the Settlement of the country advances and
‘its traffic becomes developed. “ ‘ Territorial Roads: ” to be invariably

q .
located with easy curves and ‘ ‘on the ‘most available: ground for vail.

way. service. - n
‘2nd. Colonization ‘Roads. Those: ‘lines of: secondary importance,
to be opened in the first place for the better introduction of settlers,

and which may without change in their direction be converted in.

-course of time into good gravel or macadamized, roads.,”

“8rd. Concession Roads.-—Those lings-of least: importance, ‘design- 7
ed simply to give ssoeas 19 fei Tb from the leading ‘lines last.

mentioned. - Concession Toads might be laid out generally across the

colonization _xpadé; and between the several blocks into which town- ;
ere aly sub-divided. phe Fo
a ‘Ta pre-arranging 2 system of internal. commubications for anew |
” territory, it ‘would be necessary-to take a prospective view of the
character of the. traflio which might exist when after a: Inpse of: ‘Sears

erritorial Roads.—These trink lines, intended 0° gerve.
large districts, and which may in course of time be converted, stage |

108 moe

the district becomes populated; in this we might be guided by
drawing a comparison between the uatural advantages of soil, climate
and position of the section of country to be. colonized with those of a
- any similar section which has become occupied and to some extent
‘ developed. In this manner we could form some idean.of the nature _
ofthe future commerce of the couutry, and consequently of all the :
classes of roads which would ultimately be'required to accommodate .”
it, The leading direction which traffic may seek, or the. direction,”
which in a national or political sense it may ‘appear expedient to .
__ guide it, would prescribe the general direction_ ‘ofthe main line of. ~-- ——
road: through the territory, and the other consideration would deter-
wine its character. This is the first thing to be estublished, as upon’ +
it the direction and character of all minor lines mainly depend. / fobs _

Assuting that the tract of country to be colonized is such as to. ¢
justify us in’the belief that in-duetime a railway may be constructed’ Cots,
through it, the first step would be to lay out a “ Territorial Road” oo
between the more important points in the genera] direction. of traffic! .
previously. determined. The territorial road ought to be, ‘located

’ with the utmost care and.in all that yelates to curvatures and levels

‘the best railway location in an enginerring aspect alone which the

‘ country. traversed could afford, -In this respect there would doubt-

t _ less be less than usual difficulty, as there would be, neither right. of
Way obstacles to gaard against nor local interests to serve, and conse. © ~
ntly. no ‘undue influences to twist or warp the intended ‘line out » —'-
ost advantageous location. The main’ artery of traffic” for-: oy
ervice of the. country inight thus. be. determined spon Lo

Whe

an suitable Polat ford tations and, villages, atid from these as diverging”
pads 2 might- ‘then be laid out'to the’ ‘right

1am

7 104
_ roads generally require. .., These colonization toads thus laid ‘out and:
adapted to the peculiar fSdtures of the looality, avoiding steep hills,+’
ravines, lakes ‘or unnecessary tiver crossings, might form ‘centre or 5
’ governing lines upon which the townships may-be projected ;' these
townships to be sub-divided in the usual way.into blocks of farm lots
with concession roads between, drawn so as to unite with the colon-

_ ization roads. . ot
The above is a simple skeleton outline of -a.xoad’gystem whith it
is thought might with advantage ‘be introduced into unoccupied
fields, and although it may be unwise ‘to complicate it with tooinany
“details still there is ove additional-point-which ‘seems.too important”
’ to be passed over. I have already‘alluded to the difficulty experi-
- - enced in operating railways where the road is liable to be blocked'up —
with snowdrifts ;* and I may now refer to the-extrenie necessity of
"-..-making some provision for a permanent:and’ convenient supply of
' timber, for fuel ‘and general repairs} -As a preventive against the

_ * It. hasybeen pratty well established that’the most efficient preventive of
- “Gnow. drifts is to._preserve the woods along each side of the rail-track beyond
o, 9 the line of fences, Trains are seldom detainéd by snow evenly fallen through
" wooded parts of the country, as it-scarcely ever falls.so deep between trains
© aa to offer-any inconvenience, °The detention to, trains from snow always
occura inthe open country wheye the woods have been cleared away and no ~
obstrifction is :presented to the formation of snow drifts on certain exposed
. positions, .. ) ae FO a
_ |} Jn districts where'no coal éxists and in:consequence wood is employed |
os fuel,tand mare especially’ in. those sections of the country where the ab-
_ ' sence of navigable water channels renders the more’ expensive system of Jand
. . trabsport necessary, 6 would seem good. policy. to-husband.the. growing tim.

®

se bef for futura wants,:' Already in some.parta of the United States the diffi- -
cul

y and expense of procuring fuel for Railways and for’ other purposes ie
: beginning to. be felt; in Canada the Railways alone. consume not. far short of.

- 800,000 cords avery year, thus involving the annual destruction of. more’
~:~ timber'than.is generally obtained from an ares of six thousand acres, and in -
’ , all countries ‘in a northern: latitude, beyond the cdnvenient reach of Coalfields ‘

~, the conservation of sufficient areas of timbered: lands must become of. increas-

ing political importance,“ To ascertain the extent of; woodland: sufficient :to-

t + nn

- 106.)

former, and as an ample provision for the latter, I would suggest
that a belt of wood land along the territorial line of sufficient breadth ©
should: be reserved’ for shelter and the purposes above mentioned. __
The belt of wood-land to be at all: effective against the worst effects

” of snow should be of a considerable width, sufficient in fact to shel- |
ter the line of road and -arrest the. snow drifts beyond the limits of
the line of traffic.. In open sections of the country it might, in view”

. of the same end, be advisable to encourage the growth of timber on, |
reserves to be Jeft forthe purpose along the Jine of road. The uni- |
formly éven, falls of snow would: of course always occur, but on: og

_ Yailways these are easily ovércome by light. snow-ploughs attached-to- —---—--- ~~
the front of the engines, and they seldom interfere with the regular ~~~" ~~}
running of traing.-- - me Pp
. These continuous timber reserves along the sides of the territorial 2

road, whilst. they would greatly lessen the difficulty of operating a = 7

yield a permanent supply fora "given rate of consumption, the writer a few -
years ago initiated the following: steps: ‘A piece of average timbered hard-
wood land waa selected, a rectangular portion ‘waa staked off. within the -
limited aren each tree was separately examined, ‘the length and circumference ,
of the trunk and main branched as well as the thicknéss of the rings of annual
growth of eachcwere ascertained, and upon this data was calculated the: '
quantity of solid wood annually produced by the process of vegétation. The so
| result gave about’60 cubic feet of solid timber to the -acre, and allowing for way
the interstices. between each stick as-usnally piled, this-may be considered: -
equal to about three quarters of a cord; consequently to yield a.perpetual: : 4
supply there ‘ought to be one-and_ a*third acres of timber land reserved for
‘each cord.of wood required annually, rar . . a
Taking the.above as correct and assuming that a Railway with ordin . |
traffié‘consumes annually 150 cords of wood for every mile of road operated, .
- it follows that 200 acres should be reserved for the growth of fuel.for every:
- niile of Railway. : In like manner it can be shown that cross-trees or sleep-
» era would require about, 40 acrea for every mile, and fencing as much aa 24°
‘acres foreach mile‘of Rajlway. It appears obvious, therefore, when we con- woo
“sider the many ther purposes to whieh timber is applied in the-maintenance . Sat
Railway” an@\its Rolling stock, that-there ought to be about 800 acres,
le reserved for the growth of-timber for all purposes. Abeltextend » — .
\beyond ‘each side of ‘the’ line of road would ‘fully | v3
aired area. rc

MO! 8

staat ste ey

wo

. * ot . . . . . Ve .
106. f ce
iailway along the! game, lirie.in winter, ag well: as! provide. a perms: :

ment supply of wood for fuel and general repairs, they would, moreover’

“resplt in ‘several incidental advantages favorable to the” “cotistryetion.,. ae
* wd maintenance of the’ future ilway, as wel as to the of the ;

pate re fos .

“Aa all the: roads in- every section: of. the ia ‘a

. the’ intended railway ‘would’ cdnnect” throu

Roads?” directly: “with the tations, thi ss mouldsnstygially: ‘gentre |

- at these: points, and at ‘these pointa only would’ railway. erossings by

~ pubes roads" “be*required:-—-A gain, there. awould-.bé. no. private . or.

« farm-crossings” needed, as the farm lots being jaid out subsequent

_ to the location of ‘the road, would. of-course be: wholly either-on ‘one. .

side, of it or ‘the. ‘other, besides being separated from the road: by. the ~
timber’ reserve. The advantages resulting fram these 3 arrangements

would ba- threefald,. vig. :‘in“original onstruction, sybsequent. main- :

. tenance; 8 and public safety. Ln- -original construction it is ‘clear that "

* ng bridges, Jevel-crossings, calle. guards or-gatas wand Be, required

at any. part of the Jine; other then at stations, fo, accommodate ‘pablio®
moat and us no aii wbatever wwodld fv seein ul nee a -

saved, sind “Cou
tbe ee spo very vats Taecied, epablie mn "ook
doubtedly/b great pebinoted by any plan which would: Simtueb the: 7

~ number of-foad orpssings. ..“Filany country aubdjyided for scitlement -

“igo mennor similss.tg Connds befora she railway lines.ars. ‘aid down ©

7 Wa ganpot, avoid avg # the road Srossifits sina ® On

e fa ot malle,. -

pons re

ta the ney yet

“*Thoghstedds preipited by enow drifts’
ae pale HY = “Igtivades,” fi a oe Es Wee ak :
(enow oa:

07

#9. 9 shap on avery 190 miilestof rallway.we have, probably in the » agere.
- gate over 5,000 Iitieal feet of track not only deatitate of protention bug
exposed day.and night to waggons, : foot passengers, and cattle passing
toand fro. . Besides which the great number of cattle guards required ,
‘is-an important elamant of danger, , These being made of timber .

. peameare equivelent toamall wooden bridges,and their great number ==.
. awalls out the total length to something very considerable.” Qual Se a
the railways’ in “Oanada the caftle-guards: it:.is: ostimated cavudt :

* menaure lege than 20, 600: Jineal feet -of track, and. are probably’ not"

_“mansh Jess dangerona: than the. came: Jength. of- waoden-bridgea.~ In etn
" addition to the-publio road crossings above alluded to, there ares : _ cs
very great number of ordinary“ farm: arassings,” which in point of —
*. safety to the. publig travelling by.rail as well .os ta the property of.
. the vailway companies, are perhaps equally:to be feared, for althongh =
they are protected by gatas. these are conatantly-lishle to he. left ‘open, - . one
either’ through: the deeign or-negligence of farm servanta.* .
In the: ‘toad syetem: recommended: for ‘Dew. districts; the raltmay
whenever it came to.be operated would be ‘entirely: freed from ‘farm: .
oreasings, and the pablo: road crossings: would only oc ooear at staitons _

bya, 7.

9-0 Basia the mo frutifal ‘souroea of aaoeai-are the gret sunita —
ings of street, high oi and Gorm ronda at the lavel of grade. ° The-fotal = >

- - Croasings
~ ‘number < of these, ei oer. ht th ousand, a and ‘there {a ati average of three to \
: @pah ‘mil cree on, andmore than. ag public read ‘cr’ streat-

. Seossing to wack matle, tt is believed that nesrly ten per cont of all tha weak".
denta by which persons wera killed gr injured, is due to this cause, -
: “dasha xPense of main wa at many of these crossings, and the. .
damage to .th roperty ef the the companies by collisions caused -by. then them,
< vender them’

"2S The Hie al the of those at fa eral eon- *: ne

- “coded aad wv of adusing the uber of thon a, rae are ack me ‘
‘ sings seh lire oat the level of grade, whenever, it oan be done without much’ -
_ dabsiment ta the ‘fee val, 80 aq: fa “have. fwo or more.roads use one crossing ;

all ‘cases, eho it can: be-done e rengonable expense, | 6 requ
“hen ta be. cori oven under the railre mitre

108

ore

~ ~~ ~ where the datiger. of. accidents i is aiways. ‘Teast, from ‘the ‘Tact, that to

- the speed of trains is invariably teduced‘at these points:

'* Before roceeding to consider- how the. road’ system ‘suggested, °

‘, would apply to the. wide areas of unoccupied Jands‘in the interior of

_ British’ America in view of colonizing them, as-well as of ultimately

establishing a leading line gf railway from’ the ‘settlements of Canada ,
to the Pacific, I may observe\that two priygipal objeotions present

——_.. .... themselves to’the system advocated.+1*-

- hy

. a8. briefly’ ag ‘poasible;, the following. poitits's rae

-o The expense of making - “the surveys” ‘md? ‘laying: ut: éhe-Jand- —
-. settlement would ‘undoubtedly be-much greater.than that: ‘required
_tw to lay out wild lend in the usual ‘manner; 3 but'then while the old:

(plan.i is simply’ to. divide the ,bountry,, into rectangular lots’ without

_ any sufficient: piovision for future traffic or: ‘present ROCESS ; ‘ the new *
plan has a double object’ in View,-it has, in addition to the purposes 2
: contemplated. by'the old ayatein, that: of making every ‘part of the.
" «country accessible in the-readiest way at the minimum expenditure,
_ and with the greatest permanent. advantages, attainable... ‘ Another . |

objection arises ‘from the’ proposal: to keep the'tetrritorial road: lines
_ wooded on both. sides except where, stations ‘may occur, thus’ ‘render-

- ing the road. leas agreeable to travel.on than if the cultivated ‘country ;
” was allowed to be immediately ‘adjacent. This: is’ ‘undoubtedly an:
- ‘objection, but. I think ‘that..it cannot: weigh much when’ the’ ‘benefits

to. be expecta ultipately foo the ® preservation o af ithe wood is fally. : -
considered. : mean . te -

Ton! at

; 7 HIGHWAY ‘To: ‘THE: PACT.
uy ‘- ‘PLAN ‘oF eRipvat DEVELOPMENT ‘pEtonnceNDED, :
| Inthe foregoing ‘obaérvations it ‘has’ been ‘may’ “endegyour to show, 7

“Let That thé: ‘project of 'a "highway t tothe Pacific i is-ag sold. as the:

a first settlement of Conada, and hat Teoent, events how its increas-
‘ing iiportaneé, ° sees eet: ae

ety Ms, eryene:

. 109 ;
— ~ Bina That: ‘s contianions line of Railway with. Bleatrio Telegraph oy
is better. caloalated, to meet the permanent -wants of the’ Country’. .”
and -serve tho interesta_of the Colonial.’ Empire: than any. “other

: means of communication: between the two Oceans... mn

8rd. That although the: miagnitude-of_e a scheme for a’ “Rallway .
‘geroas the Continent is very ‘great, yet vast. “importance ‘of the oe
work, in a commercial; ‘military, and nati onal- view,

-” “ eonstraction were the resources of the, sountry and: ‘the traffic & 5 =

-~- :,¢lently- developed. ——-- wer ae = eg rere pte perenne ES

7" | 4th. That ,the ‘nimegiate® “completiog. of. this ‘work’ cannot ‘be: es
° -serionly entertained in the’ present condition’of the country, the

\—-cost-of- mainténance without’ sufficient traffic being ‘s0- very great,

and ‘that? therefore, to ‘be constructed: at all, the Railway must: he a.
. work of” time.. : ean oO
* * 6th. Phat the Canadian Road and Railway Seem has ‘Msteanaa ;
_ the advantages which” may be derived from the adoption of: a:com-
_ . prehensive Road scheme-in laying open new districts for settlement, © = ~~
: + 6th. That a-scheme: which. embraces the ultimate: ‘completion of
"Railways and less perfect lines of communication bya progressive aye
tem of construction possesses many features favourable to the firstsettle-
“ment: a8 well asthe faturereqairements of the traffiddfinew Territories.
The That: ‘the system proposed for the’ developinent' of the, high: ;
ways: of a new ‘country ‘by progressive stages. corresponding with -° .
“the progréss. made by ‘the. “country: ‘itself.in general advancement,‘is - °°:
one peculiarly applicable to’ ‘the case -under ‘discussion ;and while . _
if might be expedient, in, the | first instance to ‘employ some of ‘the |. ete
“ natural water channels aga means of introducing’ settlers and labourera on

Pa along the lin “of -r ‘road, until the Istter’ ‘became i in~some. ‘degree aek-

- viceable,: it would” “bot he: advisable to ineur any,great “expenditure ..
on: ‘works beyond. the- limits of the g ‘great thoroughfare" ‘ultimately“i inet
view.” "That the ‘first effort, should. be made to conatruot an _Blectria ,

i . = . MS . Pot
OS a0, 7 oo
"metdgragh along. ite precise Hitie ‘of the fatiste ‘Railay’ inate ‘fhe. .
‘Nelegraph should be the precursor of other méans ofconinrunieation, —
~ beginning. it may be, ‘with a Bridle Path or Indisw: Trail frome. post .
to. post, and ending with s porfect line of Railway; when ‘the traffid
of the country, or the interests of the N: ation: réquiréd the siost repid.
0 means of steam. communication. ae
With thesa remarks I will now attempt’ to stow how the wink it
ita different stages, may be procesded swith, «
‘The first step required is the location of what. has bean dastgnated a
“ Territorial: “Road” between all “the move important or ‘governiag-~ -
. poinés on the line of route.. Commencing at the Western Termini, .
these points* would probably he; the mouth of, the Praser River, or
‘the best harbour on: the Pacific ousst north: of the: 49th t parallel—the
., best pass which lias been or. may “be discovered. acrowd the Rocky
Mountains contiguous to # line which-would ‘rut ‘along tis’ genéral
_, Giréotion of “the Penile ‘Bele of the interlor the wHoss southerly

ne

o

> _ ae eh ye Ro ett waa fad eon, of it ‘abiucin te i

“It is a physical reality of f the iglsstieap ortance t to ihe interests of British » ;
North Amertca, that this continuous belt can be settled and’ cultivated:from
afew miles.west of the Lake of the Wouds, to the passes of the Rocky Mout:
pale th id any line of communication, whether by.waggot-road or r
cattaral pevedation it will eventually enjoy the great advantage 0 of. befig : fed by
fron: one éxtrariity to the 6th .
az ‘o other part et the ! the American Continent’ postedes” an oven to.
this slngularl fevousble le disposition. of soil and climate; which Jast feature,
toe the winter season, cout , Om accontrt of ffs
we fumidity: tres uanbley yalne on British America, south. of the 64th parallel:--—-—-~
; -\. “The nataral résdurces lying within the limits of the Fortile Belt, oron ita: .,
. eastern. bordera, ard’ themielves of great Valne ‘#4 local ‘elements ‘of foture a
ee and sit tes ie in view of a "Strategy atross thé +e
ey acquire paramount im ntanes.”— ‘arrat 9 the. Canadian
Bepaditions: Ey. ‘Hind, © Pn ve e

om.

: ‘pend o£ the North’ Séskatchewan, River—the ‘best crossing of Réd_ 7

River: betwéen its : -eonHiuence | with’ the “Assiniboine. and the south-
; erly énd ‘of. Lake, Winnipeg—the best crossing | of.the River Win.
: nipeg: near, the ‘north end, of the Lake of. the. Woods,—the most
; northerly. bend of ‘the shore of. Lake Superior—the best crossing of

‘the French “River between. its, junction with, Lake Huron and Lake se

Nippissing;—and lastly, the most desirable point | of, connection ‘with .

. the existing. Railway system of Canada either at Ottawa; at Peter- ©
“borough, or.at’ Barrie, all of which points | are directly. conneoted |

witht the Grand, Trank Railway. b by. tieans of | the branch lines ran--

7 hing southetly ; to it.. On the location of the. a. Territorial Road,’ pe
“which. could only bé done on a. careful survey ‘of the country, the _

_ hext'step y would be the determination: of: Station points f from whenes,
_ to. lay ont Colonization Roads. to’ the right a and deft, wherever, the

soil was favotirable for, settlement. Upon the. Colonization Bonds
“the Townships ‘would: ‘next: be Brojected. » eo

=v . So soon as any, section of the “road was finally Josatt togethon ,

. With its branches, the introddction of settlers. might‘commence: The

—-—foadshould be cleared through t the’ wooded, districts toa width of two 4
ehiaing of 150 feet; im order chiefly to. preserve the Telegraph, when |

| rested; from being injuréd by treed falling: ‘The’ clearing would at
Gide: + pve. employment: t-settlera; and witli: subsequént work ‘in im.
> proving | ihe toad, greatly aid’ thdm in: paying for their. land. - and i in
‘supporting: ; their families until their farms produced sufficient crops. -

“Throughout the oper prairid country, which is tiore- than.one thirdthe ”

. ‘Whole distance, the trouble aiid expendd of cléaring would be avoided ; .
a but as the great ‘natiral obstatlés whick-isolate the interior and pre-

Feit the: possibility of establishing... & continuous Telegraphic om: wo

_- Siteniieation throngh’ the countty: are the wooded sind: broken districts -
“at both extremities, it becomiés'i indapene to force. way, of. oom

112 P
—~jabour and dorresponding expenditure; but without it no 0 satisfastory
progress can be made, This prelimiuary/step is eapecilly requisite *
to'the east of theRed River’ valley, so} that: settlers might obtain
‘access to the central. plaing,’ and ‘in: view of the. construction , of a,
, continvious line , of Telegraph vat-an early day, to. be followed by'a
- waiggon : Todd as soon as ‘circumstances Would’ allow, the. Territorial
line. should, be cleared through the western division likewise. - -:
. .* The ‘Territorial, Road” . from ‘the se lemeiits of. Canada to the |
_ , valley of, the ‘Red River would pass through 2 country: only partially
— po > exph ed"and 4 -fousequently- but-little -known-;“it=‘must be-said,-how- -——
rae cers evanuthat what i is. known of it isnot very. avourable.. »More. carefal.
i ; surveys a portion of-the counitry, recently made by. ! the. Canadian
tm ‘Gov riiment 1 ‘have shown that ‘a\ large section. formerly, considered - -
a + worthless. is" really’ fitted; for settlement aud is “how being rapidly oS
a occupied 5: and it -is “hoped from. this circu stance that at least. a
- * portion of the land. along. those’ sections- of the line yet unexplored i ig
ra capable of being cultivated. | ane corres ee
' - ,To"begin-at-one end of. the Road and. gradually eaten the aettle- aa
ae ments northward . and- westward would. -perha be, too | tedious: ‘an.
a 7 éperation in “view: of the importance-of ‘opening an 1 early connection
: with the interior. “It. would, therefore, “doabtless é-be advisable to ~
, begin at-several dntermediate points + ‘accessible -b water ‘rom "Lakes; wpe
_ Huron and: Superior, and proceed . with. simultaneous: operations. '
“On-teferring:to the map it appéara® "that such {points . e ist, ate dis. .
tances ranging. from 50 to-90-miles. apart, | ‘and: (from the 6,08. ‘bases ou
the clearing : of: the road. ‘could -proceed-.in ‘both. direct jons-pt. the.”
same - time, while: sétilemeats could : ‘be. fornied wherever! ‘ithe soll
7 proved favoursble-: In due time the clearings, penetratin he forest ..
. |" tothe tight and left along the, ‘line of Road: “previously.1 ‘lo ted; would coe
* “mee pierce: the country from one’ vend : ‘to -the. other, an ;
\» accomplished ia similar inanner inthe western: division a gonting., -
ons s ling of Bleotrio Telegraph might then. be gonatructe a

.. rr Oe ou
So . eer | cr
The extremé: importance’ of the’ ‘Telegraphio communication. ,
tending from colony . ta colony, across-the- -country,. ¢ even during, the” ™
_ earliest stages of. settlement, is jtoo. apparent,, to need comment, end
_ being” constructed | on. the precise line‘of the intended waggon road ©
_and of the ultimate Railway, it:would always be in the Position
here its services would be ‘called into requisition.
While: the Territorial line through the ‘eastern ‘division ‘gradually
’ Became developed ‘into a. good. waggon: road by the.labours of:the |
settlers’ and- such grants of money. as its’ ithportance ‘appeared’ to
--< Warrant; it-is- probable- -that-the.Canoe- Rotites from-Lake-Superior- to vache
Red: River. might ‘by’ “partial. improvement. be. made, ‘servigeable for .
ingress, and-egress duting summer to the interior; and with the ob-
; dee Rot promting-emigration to the-Centralplains as well astoother =. ~
a poi along the ‘line of: Road, it ‘would.’ probably’ be ‘expedient, to
” *Sauprove® sthasp routes‘by a limited. outlay, but for the reasons already -
Bis ven ‘Tt ‘cannot help’ thinking, that it would. be. the: wisest-policy -to
_. conééatrate the chief expenditure, on. that line which: ‘must: be sooner
oO, ‘latee the! leading highway through: ‘the edantry. >. sy os q
: The: expenditure of: labour year by year on nthe: Territorial. line, as -
the: country at’ ‘the’ same time _ progressed. 1 “settlement, . would .
—_ gradually: produce’ a regular. tage Toad. capable, of ‘being travelled |
* with: considerable: rapidity; ; and which would serve: all, the. purposes
a of transport from: one: point to: another; ‘until, the ineréasing ‘traffic: er,
"was: considered sufficient to maintain a.line of steam communication. _

When, thet period's arrived; comparatively | little additional | expenditure ” ee

would be/required to’ complete the line of railway, b had propercarebeen: 9, /. ~
- serooel te locating the: ‘Territorial road-in the first. instance;- and. - J a
-. in -eonstracting. the work in‘its, subsequent: progressive stages, , Itia = oo ia

ok, believed that ‘probably: not'lesé than four-fifths of the whole length, ‘of: ~: .. f
the lide might be’ ready: ‘for- ‘conversion into «a: “railway, simply’ by:
laying! the: suiperstradtare ‘of of. ordas-ties ‘and mails 0 ‘on. a th: ‘surface of;

pe” ‘thé ssicudaniniea ér privelled, woad-bay at other. soins. ermtiént
«| btidiilig and reddctioi of grades would ‘be-called for. .
bs would tater reffoin from! etpressing. ad opinion ‘aa ‘to the
7" athount atid mode of ‘étpenditite on « wotk.cotdacted as abavd
" pappeated, da #6 Hétle is Keown of deveral insportant ‘deotions of the -
‘line of routa, and 0 ititich: ‘depdnids ou. other, considerations of detail,
« E inay, however, by way of, ‘illustrating ong of a variety of methods
~ "py which the general design of the . bolieme might: be. carried: out, .
: _subinit t the following. premising,: that: while it is. intondad® that the
‘chicf part; if fot the whole of the ¢ost; up toa tertain stages s should-~ ‘—
* . ‘uitiniotely come: out. of land ‘sales; it would. be, , Neoessary: for: either .
_ the. Indperial or Colonial . Governments to appropriate,” in: advance;
' -sufficient.td defray. preliminary: \expenses.¢ j-ond perhaps it: wala ba
advisable that sil dxpénses should. be\botue. in. this way up to tha. -*
‘ gompletion of a edntinuous lind-of Pelpvaph, to ‘conndot. the chain, Le
of.littla eolénies which would spring up: ‘along, e line of. route All
"these expenses shight bé.made a charge; against the general.’ Tervi- on
; torial Revenue.of the country,.| benefited, a revenne which. would Loe
» __ begitr fo sugtnené, when. the: lands’ beeame. Gaaily: soogesible and i
y. _tuade productive. by Jaboar.:. cewyr beds Re at ;
7 Ye lids. already beet. showit: that: the sitdvens: of, erilway to: ‘the
— = " Pasibe: trould: wahily. depitrid .o8: the. possibility of infroducing’ /
., dtfielet miniber Of idbiabitatita in the: country tobe traversed; if |
_ in tie: poptilatioti of the ‘edtititry is to govern tlie period: when wrailway /-
“sS" gHoah® Be sét id Gpératiod we they’ likewise. taker it a9’ ‘the'basis of
stinusl expenditure oii the: preliminary: atdjgea ‘of thé work. Stipposs - oo
the sete a dni indredsd ‘could bg teckontet at 1000 sonley* .

a oat. :

“he the whole Tuited ceuted, white ‘buiitny veoh the one mide: dae ro

- puision: moére'closely than ary, other,” there are -about..1000" inhabitants to ©. -
Byery wile of Railway in operation. “It “would -Acarcely be séfé.to eatimite. -
that’a: ing’ 6 Hough British Anierice! a oct be e pra onedbly mustalned: with & led

. ee | :
and: that it ‘be deterantned to. expend: svnly 8 thie work watt
, etal toot dollar pet hed of the'wHole puphlatisn it eich te. *
spective year, the. following’ results in the devetopomont ot the.
tnidettitking wright be obtained me.
“Lat. Ta from three to four years, benides the expense of auerdys;
# territorial red line night be located, throughout, the wooded dis.
- trigts which extend avers length of over 1406 miles, might be. clemed
tracted froma‘ Cindi to Braser's River. °° ?
coe Sade Withiis © Pacther porto of two yeary: i wea yaaa’ ‘8
* wheeled Vehicles might be fornidd along. the whole'line of route:
. Std. Macadamixed roads of: the very’ best. description. might ts:
eted, in addition to the foregoing, i-th following order s
Sa ea Lake Superior to River; a alnvieics of 400; ale
in nine-year’ fromthe priwent tirte. 2
- (2), From the mouth: of Frasers Rivero” the Hucky Monitatag) |
_ i distande of 400 miles; in eleven. years trom thé! predomi: titties ~~
“@Y Brose’ thie sattleients of Canada to Lake Suiperioy)'é ditenes
of 650 milds, within fourttiot years from the- -preadiié tities tS
7 (AY Brom Red Rivet th Rocky Mowat of 00 /-
_ miles, Within séventecn years frony the present tithe...
“vated tho; by" the. ‘domparatively rifting anal, “Gittlay’ oft otis
dollar per head of: thie: savamed: gradually Sneteasiag’ Poptilition, cal

a : peppartion of inhabitants per mile of its ren Thg-whole length. will to

_ "be found'te be betweet 2000 and 25
> song’ I to be from wots two aie & half
. Naaihze ere orem with am. annual Taavenas of 10 $00,000 ta te gtre, the site af
xi
oe nh got Us» domain nba rod ob tho tel et
. god , unless. where grading, -and diteh nised ; it-would/be: similay -
' t0'the coldnization roada so. Comeomically pened b the, C Cai
; ieut thivdogh the wild county! betw edt Lake Hut we
in other. districts... Within; the last. four “or five. seam ete
, BeAy € tsSon opus ‘t's cost of ‘about 4 ee

dene hence tt the tion .
eo, an is popalatlen

to-a width of two" oliains, and # ‘contitivony Hine of telegraph ¢ dots. 7

ofthe Cn

ce 11g

eould secure-in 2 leas ‘han four j years a line ‘of. telegraph; ; andi in a thir: :
“tegd years more 8, ‘substantially. constructed -macadamized “road.
‘e the whole length, of the line.: The next and final Stage:
of progress. would ‘be,. the completion of the Railway onthe | line 7
thus,'in a great measure, prepared fort. it; and i in view of the traffic’ E
. then created, as well as the | comparative economy in constragtion,. it~
_ might be. undertaken’ in sections: by: private anterprize, ¢ or in such | -
=... other r Way BB p might then appear ‘most expedicat, | re ae
| Lam not ‘prepared ‘to ‘say ‘that; the: :foregoing-i is: the ‘post: order of |
sequence in which the several sections and:stages, of, the’ work should
-be ‘oonatructed, it, is sim ply presented for the purposs of showing . ‘e
what wmight be accomplished by a small ‘annual expendifate... “Ie ia -
“Rot at all unlikely that the peculiar nature of “the ‘traffic might + ware,”
_Yant the conversion of some section ‘of route-inte a. railway at an
only, period, —-possibly . that. section ‘petween ’ Lake’ ‘Superior, ‘and.
Red River would be the first to require. ‘the change,. which’ of course -
~ gould ‘be made. without difficulty. at any, time, 80, s00n as‘it appeared” ;
that the ‘trade. of the country. was. sufficient ‘to-maiitain it. . The’ ~
order of sequence is not important, but,it is an essdutial: part ofthe’
system proposed for opening up this:vast and roadless,’ country, : ‘that’,
yery portion of work done. should form a’ “component ‘part of -a.per-
fect whole, and that whatever expenditure i is, made, whether it -be. me
One thousand or one hundred thousand dollars, should: be: laid outin <
the ‘Tight place in: accordance with -a-, thoroughly. digested : and. well =
matured: plan, 1 the great object i in view being to obtain the: maximun me
“result, of good from thé. Jninimum. ‘amount, of, catlay. . Ca Se
> -T-can scarcely. hope to’ expect. that” ‘the. plan, of gradual develop: *
‘ment, herein advocated will | satisfy the. precipitate: or the i impatient,“

: “those, i in. “fact, who would urge ‘the. immediate “construction: of the.
“goad, regardleas ' or ignorant of: the. coat, ‘and. the burdens it might i in
consequence entail, on the: :country—yet there'are ‘Tmany- who, retneni-
_ bering the ‘tortoises in the fable, will H porecive at a:slow:

mE oe nan
movement will’ acemlish ‘the desired ond with as malttataig?
-and-perhaps more satisfactoril ly ‘than if the work was. undertaken:

with. the most sanguine hopes of speedy achievement. It i is very
doubtfal, however, if any ‘one will, on reflection, assert that there is,

~ really a choice of methods, that is to say, a fast and a slow one—the _

“Tine of artificial highway proposed. to be. constructed extends over

not less than forty-five degrées vf longitude, ‘equal “to one eighth
“the Tength of a circle of latitude passing entirely around the globe;
the o uridertaking, therefore, becomes one of no ordinary magnitude, ae
“and when in connection ‘with it, half a: continent has tobe redeemed == *
in part | at least, from a ‘state of wild nature; some considerable length
“of time’ ‘must hecessarily be occupied i in the process. Even if it should _
take’ ‘quarter of a céntury, it would: be equal to an avekage constrac-
‘tion of 100 miles of Railway ® year, a8 well as the annual introduc--. ;
tion of 100,000. emigrants, And, after all, a quarter of 2 sentury, 7.

is but a very brief, period in the history of a country—balf that _ :
‘length: of time has already elapsed since the -Railways of Canada ~
‘wore first ‘commenced; ‘and ' yet many are of opinion that it would:
“have been better, i in some -respects, had only one-half the extent of

- existing lines been-yet constructed... ---""-

_. 5 As the character of, the’ work: is’ 80: colossal and. the condition of
the country. such a8 to debar’ the : ‘idea of undertaking the construe:
"tion of a: Railway through it-in the-usual way and'as an ordinary
commercial ‘enterprise, I am: eniboldened to think that such’ a acheme. ote
aa‘I: have’ endeavoured ‘to sketch, might form the basis of a system

| possessing, many’ recommendations, and‘ which it’ is, confidently be-- -

, lieved might be advantageously adopted in’ any ‘attempt to-establish
_ B great leading highway through: the; vast unoccupied Perry be- ae
_tween. the settlements: -of Canada. and ‘British Columbia. . mF

. “I Tam, dear Sis very iy. yours, os
, Sabrony, ‘Fiition: s oS

é

Tenor, Ape: 4, i002 . ee

| APRENDI, rr

on . ~

| | ee ih be oy
: THe £ GOLD » wisdince oe ams oLwaBrA. 7

a —— ae * Fa er 9 ea |
Grom the ‘i dram) ee ts
20 Toy hs Vicrorra, Waxbouven’s Isi.anp, Jon. 20, 106% 7...
7, da Tat letter T gave a detailed’ accqunt of the mining operationg in. ,
_ Britigh Columbia during the season of 1861. "In this letter, propose to rans
| pre & general sketch of the mineral ‘region with the.yiew of” conveying "| yest ,
. stich as have not been: in the countrys . definite conesption “of the ex- wo %
tent and capabilities of the goldfield. Toast . va
Bey "_FHE LOCALE OF THE GOEP: pIgGINGR: Cys
Beginning with Fraser River, thie main artery of the anniferona region, . eo”
I may state that gold is known to exist'and haa boca worked a A erest ee
‘many places in the river and on ita banks fram'a point sbont 48 miles ey
: from the mouth of the river up to near ita source in the Rocky Mountains i vt
in other. -worda, from the 40th ‘opt tothe 58rd paraliel of noxth ‘latitude, ,..
"9 distance (taking in the wwiridings) ofsome 800 milea. The south branch
. ofthe Fraser has its soujce near, Mount Brown in the Rocky. Mountains, ’-
‘fai about’ 86? novth “latitude, '145°. 40 min. west longitade..< Thenes this.
branch flows.for 280 ‘miles tq Fort George, a, post of the. Hudsen's Bey
‘ Gompany. ~The north branch riges i inan | oppaaita direction. It receives
‘its supply from a seria of lakes Tyfing between | 34° and B59 ‘of north, lati,
. tude, longitude about 124° 50 min. "west, ‘and rons a course 240 miles ta
“its junction with the south bran “some ‘miles below the 64th parallel : :
' of north latitude, : “Here the ~of the two: ‘branches forms the Frike? 2
: ‘River prope. Apaing the orth Bray w which in also» gn betting .

7 oo a 120 o 2 ee .
~~ stream, and which was “worked” Hhst season to the other arm,:tpe two
will give us a continuous stretch of auriferous riverain territory upwards
+ of 1,009 miles in length, extending for many miles baick into the country -
On both sides, -but not including the tributary rivets ‘which: fall into the
Fraser. In ‘short, the river itself ia now known to be auriférous and to
' pass through a gold: bearing country throughout its whole caurse. Gold .
is algo found-ini most of the tributaries of the Frager; of ‘which no less _
than 59 are known: The great length of the main river and the number.
*. of its tributaries will, give.some ides a of the ‘suriferous resources sof the .
country. - m
7. * THE TERRACES oF THE FRASER. ' PT

But these facta:do not by qny. means eqnyey & comprehensive or accu”
pate” view of the vast: -extent- of, the. aren, of. the 2 goldfeld, | peeere - they nye
“ upper portions of British Columbia, . from. its southern ‘to its “northern
boundary, is auriferous, Besides the gold found in the béds and on the
»-. + shores of these streams the. Fraser itself and many of its tributaries are .
_* skirted or bordered By terraces,all of which yield gold also. These terraced |

" or henches,”” ‘as the miners call ‘them, run, at intervals; along both sides”

* — of the rivers for miles in length, and they r recede where the: ‘mountains
’ retire, for distances back into the valleys, varying from's few acres toa, - .
few miles i in’ ‘Breadth. : They.are objects of curiogity and speculation, and —
add much to the beauty" ‘of.the rude scenes in which they occur from"
‘the regularity and evenness of their structure, They . generally occur .
on‘both aides of the river ° (opposite to each other), at the same- place,
. © sometimes‘at the game elevation on. both: sides, sometimes at. different

. elevations, high on thia, and low on, the other. side of ithe. river 3: cand, in”

some places they are ‘inultiplied into several successive, level parallel pla-

: _ teanx, rising one above the other as ‘thay recede from the bank. ° ‘These

" terraces are -cbtaposed of the ordinary alluvial -deposits—loam, gravel, -
stones, ‘sand. and-boulders ; "and they are thick masses rising generally. -
‘to's height 6f « 150 to 200 "feet. _
Leaving the solution of their formation to the learned i in such matters ve
~ I will hasten to explain’ their value to the x miner. ‘They conisin vast de,

. ™~,

Wn! oe

posits of golds and to be worked to ndvantagé the * berich aieguas?

must command a stream of water supplied, from.a, source higher thar -.

their own. surfaces, so as to give a-fall‘to enable eminer ‘to apply

‘the water to the face of the,‘ bench” by 8 a hose.-T! @ forcéof. the-stream _
is due to the eight of the fi fall. “A g DE, | stream’ playing upon the. —
face of the hill will disintegrate. & great quantity of “pay dirt” in a short ;

time. The floating rubbish, or ‘dirt,” ig caught'i in a long sluice at the
base, provided with # rifles” on the bottom, and spread with. quicksilver

“to catch the gold. This mode of mining is called by the miners “hy-_ =
draulic mining. * Such is the wealth of Cariboo that no quicksilver WES -

used, for the miners, could: afford. to loofe all the “fine dust” -and to be
‘satisfied with the “ lumps. "It happens fortunately, that Fraser River
and most of its tributaries, supply: water in abundance at an, elevation.
which: affords the necessary_fall,. from the elevated. and ‘broken ‘character

‘of the country ; ; while there are inexhaustible supplies in ‘the numerous .
lakes’ dispersed all over the upper “district. Timber for the erection of -
“ flumes”. is’ also abundant everywhere, | British Columbia is better .

supplied with, water. for mining purposes, obtainable both from streams
at great elevations, and from lakes situated i in high altitudes, than either
California or Australia. . Some ‘of the-“‘ ditches i in California are of great
length ; some ‘40 miles, owing to the absence of streams running on elo-
vated’ planes.” The cost of construction is consequently very great., But.

Australia i is miich worse off, for. there is an actual scarcity of water. The - _

canal system of British Columbia will be comparatively i inexpensive from

the abundance of water and its eligibility, encouraging facts to the miner, :

because the | small outlay" of “capital. required will keep ‘his “water dues”
low..

ed,” ‘the shave paid well, . They hava beon neglected for the grester at-
xy:

tractions of the: placer diggings,” where the gold is: found nearerthe: _
surface and with lesa labour. But' I. consider -this ‘class: of diggings: o¢

great prospective value. They will give ‘employment’ to two interests—

capital and Jabour. They. are generally situated within easy - ‘reach. of .
supplies. ° They are more ¢ accessible to all the. influences of civilization a

y N ee . , . 7 , e
. a . v ots ” ot
. f

Joo EE ae

“Ta soturn to the ‘peich ‘diggings. ” Whenever they have been ‘pork

ag It. ol LO . .s

than niare intesior localities: Theyiare. is the neighbonshood of some

Ss. good land, which will enable the labourer to alternate his time between
. 7". ” ypining and husbandry, ahd where he. can make ad ‘Thome—the great
: Trp suse On ue Cob, phe:

; : THE SOURCE OF THE GOLD. no
: «, SPE i to the.subject.. of river mining, 5 would notice the ‘remarkable’
t ¢ the streams which ffow from the-east are observed to be “
‘navieteos, while thode which rou from the west are not so. Does
.. distinction prove that the source of all the gold spread over the go 14 :
“ fg in the Rocky Mountains?. , The circumstance lends feasibility to this -
: theory, and it is. strengtheried by the ‘discovery. of gold on the east side’
of the Rocky Mountains in rivers which take their rise i in the same chain, -
but atthe opposite side.’ You-are’ awarg that gold ts worked on the
~ Saskatchtwan, the sources -of-which-are not-véry far. from those ofthe
- Fraser. We-have also: Inte information of'the finding of gold on Peacs ©
River, which -has ffs source’ also in the Rocky Mountains. “We are -
_ informed that Pence River country contains silver ‘ind. other ores—a
- specimen of ote of whicky goes to the Exhibition, / _ tah
- * * "FORT HOPE, ' ;
, “The sepovts of the nfning this sougan. on, the Fraser ia, the space
"between, Fort, Hope and. Fort George, a. distance of about 270 miles, give.
. the daily 5 individual, earnings at all sums, between $8’ and- $15. Very
little hag a8 yet been; done between, these two: paints, and, very. little, will
bé done s0 long as. the attractions of $100 to $1,000 a-day continue: ele.
Lt where, Twill now. carry, ou, to your mining localities. Leaving. the
. . o«. Fraser at’ Fort’ “Hope, -100 -miles from -its' mouth, and following in the .
vs track of the miners to the southward and eastward, for. G0:miles,, we.come ”
to'the Similkanieen, ‘These, mines yielded, last season, $16 to, $17 a-day |
: to the hand, jonally. A party. of threa men. took $240. in three
"\. <1 day? work,-frouk “sluice diggings 2": and the, “rocker,” used in, “ wet.
diggings,” yiel $4, $5-and- up to. gS: a-day: to the “band: Number’ of
’ miners’ 200, ‘of whom 150-were Chinese. ’ A waggon, road for. 25 ‘miles, 7
‘froze Seve ridle,road, of f:AG.mnlee in contianstion suproachg this.

~

brea

ire “diateict ip bey

e

wo So, OKANAGAN: 2° |
‘Sixty miles farther to the southward comes ovmngl!; Tho avetegt ,
: yield here was paly $4e-day, and the miners were few-——doie 96 me
~ some of -whom divided’ their ‘tine between mining ‘and. Imsbandry: ~~ ;
* Okanagan Jaké, a beautiful sheet of water, in a rich’ pastoral district, la, oe
- from. 80 to 100 miles long, and 8 to 10 milés wide, deep, and woll suited _
to navigation. Tbereis 9, small population i in the valley, chiefly French.
Osnadians, and A Catholi¢ mission. There aré two small lakes tributary’:
SERS ne een ie el i thee,
We ”
oy » "| 2 ROGER: CREEK, | . ,
In ‘the. sasie ‘general direction, and distant from Fort Hope. 150 ‘miles,
“is Rock Creek, close to the Americin: frontier (Int. 49° north); and 60
. miles west of the ‘Columbis, River.-—-The: Jongitude of Rock Creek is r119y
west, . This place acquired a temporary reputation in 1860 for the rich-
ness of its mines; when « considerable, population Aockéd to it’ and /
" extemporized a town: .In 1861 most of the miners were seduced away -
" < by the superior j attractions of Cariboo, the latest 'and richést El Dorado) «=,
.' yet discovered, so that only 30.white men and 225 Chidanien remained,. - ry
- A’party of three white, men saved in the séazon $22,000 that I know. of, os
after paying’ expenses ; $100. aday to’ the hand was sometimes made. ne
_ The average earnings are ‘returned at $7 adsy per man. There are both! ae .
“ bench” and “wet” diggings, and both are productive ax and extendive. ott
The ince @ is now W abandoned. - oo oe
‘ UILLooern.. a a ‘ 3
i fear Es am a getting tiresome, and must hasten to close this part of the: -
subject by re ig my steps down the North River to Fort Kamloops: ape
If we-could:puraue.a straight western. ourse from the. Fort: to. Fraser a :
River for about: 100 miles we should. strike the new town of. Lillooett, : aK
situated at a point where the two great routes of travel. i into theinterior.. ~ :
- meet that from: ‘Hope and Lytton by thelriver, and that by. the Harrison ==
Valley and Lillooett chain. of lakes. Lillooett is the great, final starting ;
' poitit to the northern mines, and beyond this there is:no: ere
no-other foeans’ of {fransport than: horses, zaules, and: what ‘the miners

°

. ee ae
expressively term “footing it” Lillodett is distaat from the. mouth-of

- the Fraser (on the Gulf of Georgia); by: the river route, oid Hope, Yale,

and Lytton, 220 miles; ‘and by the Harrison route, vid Harrison Lake,
by steamer, Douglas, portages, and four lakes, créssed by steamers, 288
miles’ The. first révite commands‘steamers up to Yale, the rest_of the

* journey must be ridden or walked. The other route commands steamers
to Douglas, »‘stage coacksthence to Williams’ Lake 29% miles,‘on a road
‘made along the Harrison river, chiefly by the Royal Engineers ; an open

boat on’ the first lake of five’ iniles, ‘steamers on the other three lakes,
which are together 49 miles long,- and ‘the. portages between’ ‘the lakes |
and Lillooett, which in the aggregate , of the fout of them are "B84 miles |
long, can’ be ridden ‘or walked. © From “Lillodett ‘to’ the’ first. or “lower a

: Cariboo mineg. the distance i is about 260 miles." -* ae

“BRIDGE RrvER WO TA |. oe
A few, miles beyond Lillooett, and on the satae (the west) side, “Bridge

River falls into the Fraser. Bridge River. is very rich i in gold.” The In:

dians-of the neighbourhood make considerable earnings on it, working

in the rudest manner with the most inefficient iplementts. Tt was here

the Bishop of Columbia found them making an ounce 1 a-day to the hand,

' aI mentioned in my last letter. Nodules of pure copper have been

found in the.bed'of the:river, indicating tho existence of copper ‘veins |
in the neighbouring | banks. Bol yy

I have already stated that the Fraser yielded. $3 to gi6. a day on the
various points at which it has been worked, for a spacé of 270 miles. “I
‘shall therefore omit all‘ further detail'of the river from the point where.
Bridge River ‘empties into the Fraser, about 20' miles below the 51st par-

" allel’ of north’ latitude, ‘up to the ‘point where it” reeeives the Quesnel

River; ‘a little below the 58rd ‘parallel. This river has two branches, one
of which’ drains Quesnel Lake, lyirig a degree and a-half to the eastward .

“of thé- Fraser, and which is-50-miles long.. The other’ pbrarich drains
., Cariboo Lake, which receives Swamp River and Lower-Cariboo Lake,

into which Keithicy’ 'e Creek, one of the: Cariboo streams, empties. At

; ‘the junction of the tio teites wn, the'nearest to Cariboo digging, “

latter" “The: plage i called “the

ve
wep FP conn

sy _ing 40 “British Columbia mining, I may assert that there ‘are no low earn-

. ty: former letters as in this ane, you will be surprised to find no ‘mention *
> tnade of email earnings: None.are low, while all are high—which, with: -

.:Forks of. Quesnel.” Both branches of the Quesnel are , highly aurife- .

rous. Mining began here in 1869, and Jed to the discovery of Cariboo; .
situated 50 miles further north. ‘ The returns for last summer-were that.
niné out often of the claims paid over an ounce a day:to the ‘hand. . The
river banks enable the miners to work in winter. The diggins must Be
_Fich to have retoined any miners so dose ts Catboo, wh where fortanes were
tnade i in the course of | a fow weeks, ' see!

*

| THE ‘LARGEST GOLD FIELD IN THE ‘WORLD. a are
* There i is one grand prominent feature of the country pre-eminent from aan
“Sts extent and character, which I must net omit, for without a knowledge
- of it no accurate conception can be formed of the area or resources of
the great gold field of British Columbia, “I allude to » chain of moun-

tains which | rung frem. our-southérn -frontier (on 49° north: latitude) ina a

.

~“north-westerly direction through the country, and, in fact, beyond.the © _ os

northern limit of the colony. I¢ forms ¢ the water-shed of the great basin -

“of the'Fraser : River, one side of which drains itself into the valley of: the

Fraser, and the other into that of the Columbia, , The wholé of this -vast . eg
ange is now’ known do be auriferous, It has been traced for 400 miles, a
“and “fine and coarse gold is everywhere found on its western slopes. 7
from: Rock Creek in the south to Cariboo. in the “north.” -It isthe long-
. est stretch of continuotis inland gold bearing’ bounty: ‘yet discovered i in

- the world. -

: B00) LOW EARNINGS, .
~ in ‘eaathe the returns of: the daily isbours o of. the miners, ag well i in

out explanation would induce a, doubt. as to the accuracy of My reports.

"The omission looks, certainly as if the miners’, “ geese were alk swans.” 7. /.
- The fact is, we never hear of the low earnings. They: are never report-

ed; and, on abroad view of the actual circumstances at present ‘attach-

: ings. Here i is.exactly how: the matter stands :—Some of the Chinamen,
while serving their novitiate, are satisfied with such poor diggins as: ‘yield |
: “only. a1 ‘to $2. day, bat they | are S000 forced ed by. their task- masters, 9 who’ -_

‘ . an oan v7 '

re ‘woe, i. a

; ‘ : ‘ Aye 7 Xx.

ee wy a

yt f 3 \

dap. mot :
‘.

126 ny

oo \

; they labour, and whe tax them both forthe payment of, these, expenses
' and for.a profit on the venture, to, abandon such, poor diggings for richer.
And aa to white ‘miners, ‘not pne of them will work: for the amall‘earn-
“wilt hire himself to other: mere fortunate claim owners, who will pay him
-froni $5 to $10 a day, according/to location and circumstances, In this

mineral region is being “skimmed”—not efficiently worked. - In the

“ qgountry as have been preted to be-auriferous. Te give a perfect desorip:
-tion of the gold field isout of the question. In thet, much of itig ‘etitl
: * undiscovered, sind myst continue unexplored in country of euch dimen-
os, sions as British Col over five fe, scr
~~ embrieihig "a great/portion ot tén dogrees of longitude, ‘and whieh eon:
- «, , tains some 200,000 equate miles of surfaee, ‘Such an extent of country,
such resources of gold, silyer, and other metals, and a: large
quantity of ggricultural and pastoral land, is an ompire, and will require
& large popiilation even to-explore it

as gold has been diseovered at mary

PY Practichliy, iimitable, and its wealth’ inexhaustible. .

> paid their expenses from (hina and San cisco, and for whose benefit *

"way: it comes that no poor Aljggings are-worked. The surface ofthe °

- foregoing sketch I have confined my- observations to such portions of the-

ings Ihave mentioned. 3f a miner/cannot fall upon a rich “claim,” he -

mbie, éxtonding over five degress of latitude, snd _

thoroughly. - Suffice it to say, that |
bas by ad at points all over this vast surface, and.
-. -in quantities hitherto unequalled, the gold field of British Columbia, ig,

PP “My adyicé to’ emigratits from the old country will be short, and, while:

| _{t can easily be remembered; cannot be misunderstood. British Colum-
* bia wants two classes only—men with money-ing men with bodily
am farength’ cap taltets and labourers, Both classes will do well: The

“y/profitable employmént for. its labour, -.Ie either fails it will-be its own -

thelr wives and families’; the more numerous the progeny the better, .

‘/one will find lucrative employrient for its capital, the other still more

“+ fault. Should either of these two: classes be married, let' them bring -

£
- Ok

; _ 27
i . , 7
, f ‘
‘ Fey : on Ho. EF Pa . . .
RATES FOR’ 1862, “aide BURBANK’S EXPRESS, FROM. sr. ‘pau ‘TO
. FORT GARRY: :
" Ordinar merchandise, in fots- Ff 3,600-Ibe. asd upwards; st . por 100 Ibe
Ordinary m 2,000 Ibu... ses enedgast anes ae ew dwevecvereen OF £1 gor 1001

’ ‘We' make’ th ‘principal . rate owg.. pound, ‘which will settle any.
difference about’ tho value of pounds in Federal currency. - Last
year we-rated the 6 pound at, $£.80, but the drafts we received during
the ‘season only netted | us a average of $4.74—taking that basis we
reduce our rates on large lata 26 cents; and on, mall $1. per, 100 Ibe, -

Passengers 1 from Fort Garry to St. Poul; $30. ~-Rort Qasry’ to St
~ Pia ‘and retura $50. Our: new. boat, the. Euttnational,. will he
_ down about the 15th of May, she will be in every respect equal to
‘any boat of ‘her size on the Mississippi. She will make regular
_ fortnightly trips, will be two days.ronning from Georgetown to Fort

~ Garry—she will remain two days at Fort Garry—making the return ~

‘trip to Georgetown in three days, aud remaining ‘there until next ©
regular day for departure. She will ron until the end of October,
‘going through to ‘Georgetown or Fort Abercombie every 7 Py and
connecting with four horse post-coaches. ; ,

oa re,
’, No, TIT. . .
LISt OF NECESSARY OR MERELY USEFUL ARTICLES WA JOUR- ,
2 NEY ACROSS THE PRAIRIES TO BRITISH: COLUMBIA, .
ce _ NOT-ENUMERATED IN TREATERT.

eo Ay pair r of. Mackinaw or North Blankets for each man. -
'2. An oil cloth or gutta percha cloth.

'8, -A set of tins (8) for cooking a fying Pan, spocn, iio and 2 foley

a tn can. and * wae

i

”

a

Ne

acy

et ee

peg a!

Phe! — a 128 f _

4. ; ;One large sized a axe, and one small site one. °
' B.A draw knife, a hand saw, an} inch augur!
. + 6, Cod lines, and rope ‘for tethering, Af neces ,
rr Ae: % ‘supply. ‘of: ball) powder, shot, ‘obaicto, Aint ‘and ‘Steel, and as
ot ‘presents for Indians," * ’

8, A few yards of’ copper wire to mend cait wheels, © ° |
- 9. A small: seine net (20 feet by. 5 fect) for. brodk trout in the moun- .
frat tains—a . gill net if wintering” on the east side of. the mountains. an
16. A supply. of vespor matches (they do not spdéil with damp). ;

‘11:"A piece of soft, tanned leather (6 feet by 2 inches) for ‘Roppins.

12. A supply ‘of pressed ‘vegetables, if procurable, ;

18, A miner's Pick, a Spade, &e., ke, &e.": ‘

“1h A géuple | of ‘awls and ‘a. ball. of stout brine—a expo, of stout

7 fmeedles’ and strong thresd. |.

i n/a strong’ ‘clasp knife, and, ound of wrought al ‘assorted sizes,
vo y front 2 ‘te 4 ‘inches. oi .

. 7 2 oN

Oy .

WARRATIVE an - ye

4 _ Sop mmm,

- CANADIAN RED ‘RIVER. EXPLORING EXPEDITION OF 1867,
& : Le AND.OF THE 7 ' vote
_ ASBINIBOINE & SASKATOHAWAN EXPLORING EXPEDITION” nn

Br Henny Yours itn, ‘M.A, FBG. 8., Professor of Chemistey 1 and

__ Geology in Trinity College, "Toronto ; ia charge of the Assiniboine |. naan
“and Saskatchewan. Expedition... ------ 5 -—- F e cot

fe,

Pp, 996; ‘with. 20 wholo-page ‘Chromoxylographa, 78 Woodents, 8 |.
Maps (topographical and geological), 4 Plans, and a Sheet of Profiles -
of the country explored. 2 vols. 8vo. Price $12. °°

LONDON: LONGMAN & CO.—TORONTO: : W.-C. CHEWETT & co.

nye . - . 4

IN THE PRESS,
- .

JBRPEORA TIONS. _

to

INTERIOR OF THE LABRADOR PENINSULA,

The Country of the Monnsonaxs and Nasquares Indians, with numer- pone
i. : “ous, “lustrationa and Maps. a .

bon ‘By HENRY YOULE HIND; WA, PRBS. co
h / HoNDon : LONGMAN & C0. TORONTO: W. c. OHEWETT & co.

mT: : en ee: